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THE INDIVIDUAL IN 
THE MAKING 

A SUBJECTIVE VIEW OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT 

WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR PARENTS 

AND TEACHERS 

BY 

E. A. KIRKPATRICK, B.S., M.Ph. 

Author of Fundamentals of Child Study 
Genetic Psychology, etc. 




BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 






COPYRIGHT, 191 1, BY E. A. KIRKPATRICK 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



(V / 



^CI.A2988'iG 



J6 



TO THE MEMORY OF 

THE ONE WHOSE LOVE NEVER FAILED 

AND WHOSE BELIEF IN ME WAS 

AT EVERY STAGE OF LIFE 

A STIMULUS TO ASPIRE 

AND ACHIEVE 

THIS VOLUME IS 

AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 

BY THE AUTHOR 



PREFACE 

In a recent work, " Genetic Psychology," the author 
has discussed the general principles governing the devel- 
opment of behavior and mind in animals and in the hu- 
man race, giving special prominence to the objective 
facts. In this volume it is proposed to discuss the devel- 
opment of individual human minds only, and chiefly from 
the subjective point of view. 

This volume is contrasted with the author's earlier 
book, " Fundamentals of Child Study," by its attempt 
to trace the development of a child's mind as a whole 
through various stages instead of discussing separately 
the various instincts and other phases of child-life. In 
other words the author attempts, figuratively speaking, 
to drive a twenty-four-horse team abreast, instead of first 
leading one, then another, over the course. The need 
that this shall be done is so great that the author at- 
tempts it, although he realizes that complete success can 
scarcely be expected at the present stage of the science. 

The educator like the mariner needs a chart by which 
he may guide the child into the most favoring channels 
and past the most serious dangers that are found in 
each stage of development from childhood to maturity. 
The author cannot claim that the correctness of this in- 
complete chart of human development has been scientifi- 
cally demonstrated. He can only say, that after a score 
of years spent in studying children, and much opportu- 
nity for observing various methods of teaching, he be- 
lieves that the descriptions and suggestions herein given 
lead toward the truth. The ideas expressed are not 
given as final truth for the guidance of psychologists 



vi PREFACE 

and educators, but as a formulation of facts and prin- 
ciples to be corrected and completed by further scien- 
tific investigations and tested by practical educational 
experience. 

The attempt has been made to make the treatment 
as scientific as the present state of knowledge will ad- 
mit, and yet to make it sufficiently clear and concrete 
to be readable. 

Part One is designed to give the genetic point of view, 
and present the general principles of development. Part 
Two, treating of stages of development, will be of inter- 
est to both parents and teachers, while Part Three es- 
pecially concerns teachers. It is hoped that the work is 
sufficiently concrete and specific to be of interest and 
value to parents and teachers who have not received 
much training in psychology. It will be of most value, 
however, to those who have given considerable study to 
the subject, and have had a good deal of experience 
with children. For the benefit of those desiring to make 
a more extensive and thorough study of the topics from 
various points of view, a number of references are ap- 
pended at the close of the book. 

The author has in a way acted as an organizer and 
interpreter of the work of the many observers and ex- 
perimenters cited in the references, to all of whom ob- 
ligations are due. To one of these, the doer or inspirer 
of nearly all that has been done in America in study- 
ing children. Dr. G. Stanley Hall, special acknowledg- 
ments are gratefully made both for his writings and for 
personal inspiration. Special thanks are also due the 
author's wife from the author and his readers for eli- 
minating abstract statements, complicated sentences 

and mechanical errors. 

E. A. K. 

FiTCHBURG Normal School, March, 1911. 



CONTENTS 

PART I. General Principles of Subjective 
Development 

CHAPTER I. The Personality 

The Conscious Self. Independence of the Mental Life. 
Self-Government. Unity of Personality. Exercises. . . 3 

CHAPTER II. Interest 

Nature and Functions. Relation of Interest to Instincts. 
Work and Play Interests. Varieties of Work Interests. 
Associated and Transferred Interests. Artificial and Natu- 
ral Interests. Utilization and Correlation of Interests. 
Development of Interests. Exercises 11 



PART II. Stages of Development 



CHAPTER III. General Description 

Need for Distinguishing the Stages of Development. 
Difficulties of Distinguishing the Stages. Basis of Classifi- 
cation. The Stages Distinguished and Characterized. Cau- 
tions to be Observed. Exercises 55 



CHAPTER IV. The Pre-Social Period 

Characteristics. Changes that Take Place during this 
Period. Treatment during the Period. Exercises ... 64 



viii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V. Imitating and Socializing Stage 

^' Conditions and General Characteristics. Imitation and 
Social Consciousness. Common Consciousness and Social 
Sensitiveness. Illustrations of Social Sensitiveness. Lan- 
guage Acquisition and Ideas. Development of Language 
and Ideas Illustrated. Perception and Images. Illustra- 
tions of Perception and Imagery. Memory. Illustrations 
of Habits and Memories. Imagination and Thinking. Illus- 
trations of Imaginative and Conceptual Activity. Exercises 72 



CHAPTER VI. Period of Individualization 

Characteristics. Self-Assertion. Illustrations of Con- 
trariness. Self and the Opinions of Others. Wishes and 
Ideals. Illustrations of Influence of Ideals. Self -Direction. 
Learning to Distinguish the Truth. Illustrations of Imagi- 
nation. Illustrations of Deceptions. Memory. Illustra- 
tions of Time Ideas and of Memories. Imagination and 
Standard Images. Story Interest and Ability. Concepts 
and Reasoning. Illustrations of Questions, Concepts and 
Reasoning. Exercises Ill 



CHAPTER VII. Period of Competitive Socialization 
AND Regulation 

Characteristics and Changes. Social Direction and Reg- 
ulation. The Chief Social Influences. Competition. Chum- 
ming and Leadership. Teasing and Humor. Perception. 
Imagination. Memory. Concepts and Thinking. Feeling 
and Will. Obedience and Conformity to Law. Exercises. 166 



r ^CHAPTER VIII. The Pubertal or Early Adolescent 

Period 

Characteristics and Changes. Illustrations. Sensory and 
Motor Development. Feelings. Illustrations of Feelings. 



CONTENTS ix 

Self-Consciousness. Imagination and Day-dreaming. Il- 
lustrations of Day-dreaming, Development of Thought. 
Memory. Moral and Volitional Development. Exercises. 216 



CHAPTER IX. Later Adolescence 
General Characteristics. Exercises 251 



PAET III. Eelation of Stages of Develop- 
ment TO Education 

CHAPTER X. Function of Education 

Development. Knowledge and Skill. Positive and Neg- 
ative Aims in Education. The Undir-ected Learning of 
Children. Modes of Undirected Learning. Common and 
Individual Characteristics. Exercises 257 



CHAPTER XI. Aims, Materials and Methods at 
Different Periods 

A New Basis for Educational Courses. Primary Grades. 
Intermediate Grades. Higher Grades. High School. Col- 
lege and University. Exercises 279 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 309 

INDEX 335 



PAET I 

GENEEAL PRINCIPLES OF SUBJECTIVE 
DEVELOPMENT 



THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

GHAPTEE I 

THE PERSONALITY 

The Germ of Mental Life. The ultimate standard 
of value among human beings is personality ; hence its 
development is of supreme importance. The germ of 
mental life in the human infant exhibits one of the most 
striking instances of evolution to be found in nature. 
Greater changes take place in the mind of an infant 
in a few years than in ages of plant or animal evolu- 
tion. This germ of mental life is so constituted that it 
tends to develop according to inner laws, as does a 
grain of wheat, yet it is greatly modified in its devel- 
opment by its environment, physical and psychical. 

The problem of the student of the genesis of per- 
sonality is to describe the inner laws governing the de- 
velopment of a human being and determine how his 
development is influenced by the outer forces. In doing 
this it will be necessary first to consider briefly the 
nature of a conscious personality and then to discuss a 
mental state that is most closely identified with that 
development, i. e., interest. After this the stages of 
development may be described and their significance to 
the educator pointed out. 

The Conscious Self. Each human mind is in a way 
a unity complete in itself. Many phases of the sur- 
roundings are mirrored in it and each portion of the 



4 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

universe exists for it only as it comes within the circle of 
the individual consciousness. The consciousness of one 
person is separate and distinct from that of any other 
person. His mind is a mental world by itself — a dis- 
tinct mental organism. Each mind has a life of its own, 
yet its vigor and health depend upon maintaining proper 
relations with the body, with the physical environment 
and with other minds, and upon a proper relation of its 
activities to each other. A mind in a weakened or dis- 
ordered body is handicapped and the person who shuts 
himself off from sensory experiences, isolates himseK 
from contact with other minds or allows one idea or pas- 
sion to rule, becomes mentally abnormal and unhealthy. 
The mental life is rooted in a physiological organism 
and really emerges as the result of the latter's activities 
in responding to the physical environment. In its germ 
the conscious self is merely an awareness of conscious 
states produced by physiological processes and sensory 
motor reactions. The infant has no control of its move- 
ments and may repeatedly scratch itself without know- 
ing how to avoid the action. Its movements are partly 
of an indefinite, chance character and partly of more 
definite reflex and instinctive character. The infant is 
in somewhat of the condition of a man who should find 
himseK in a shop where machines of all sorts were in 
motion. He would at first have no control over them. 
By noticing what happened after each motion and by 
pulling various cranks and levers he would learn to 
know what to expect at any moment and could ulti- 
mately control the various machines. In a similar way 
does the babe gradually gain control of his bodily move- 
ments. In the meantime the conscious states that are 
experienced are organized into a conscious self. 



THE PERSONALITY 5 

Independence of Mental Life. Althougli the mental 
life comes into existence through the activities of the 
physiological mechanisms and the action of the environ- I 
ment upon the organs of special sense, it attains a large 
measure of independence. After the higher cerebral 
centers are developed, so long as they remain in healthy 
activity, the mental life of thought may be carried on 
for long periods of time with little or no modification 
produced by lower centers or by outside stimulations of 
the special senses. One may remain at home and live 
mentally in a distant place or age, or on the other hand 
he may actually travel in distant climes and yet carry 
with him his home mental life. One of the most marked a 
differences in individuals is the extent to which they J 
become independent of their immediate environment! 
and of moods physiologically initiated. This independ- s 
ence of consciousness of the immediate physiological 
and environmental influence is due in part to the fact 
that it may select for modifying itself, any portion of 
the environment. 

By change of attention one can bring into the fore- 
ground any one of the many sensations resulting from 
physiological processes and sense stimulations ; he may 
change objects or move sense organs so as to get differ- 
ent sensations and he may choose his future mental ex- 
periences by going where he will get new sensations, 
emotions and ideas, or he may engage in other activities. 
One can thus determine within pretty wide limits what 
his mental life shall be. Furthermore he not only can 
select objects for notice, but can modify the effects of 
what is noticed according to the nature of his mental 
life. The botanist, the gardener and the artist may select 
the same flower for notice, but each gets a different men- 



6 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

tal experience from it, the botanist, its classification, the 
gardener, its use, and the artist, its beauty. In a similar 
way each object may appear different to the same per- 
son if he examines it with a changed purpose. A knife 
gives different impressions when observed for use as an 
article of commerce, a screwdriver, a pencil sharpener 
or a paperweight. 
I At birth, mental freedom is wholly lacking. Man 
does not inherit freedom, nor can it be given him ; he 
must achieve it for himself. The degree in which it is 
attained is, in general, a pretty good measure of the de- 
gree of mental development and organization that has 
been reached by the individual. 

Self -Government. Whatever amount and variety of 
knowledge and skill a human being may possess he is 
lacking in the essential characteristic of a human per- 
sonality if he is not self-directing and self-governing. 
An individual who performs certain actions, when di- 
rected to do so, absolutely according to directions, 
may perform valuable service for society, but he is 
not in so doing, showing the essential elements of a 
human individual any more than is a type-writer or 
adding machine when fulfilling its mechanical func- 
tions. To be useful in certain lines a human being 
needs to become like a machine in some of his actions, 
yet the essential nature of human personality is not 
shown in such actions, but in the choosing of what he 
shall do and in directing his actions in accordance with 
his choices. 

On the other hand, a person whose actions are di- 
rected wholly by the impulses of the moment is like a 
social group in a state of anarchy where there is little 
consistency in conduct. A self-governing person must 



THE PERSONALITY 7 

act in accordance with law just as mucli as the one who 
conforms absolutely to the directions given him. The 
only difference is that the law is an ideal within the 
individual himself instead of originating in some one 
else. All educational influences brought to bear upon 
human individuals are misdirected if they do not tend , 
to produce a personality that governs itself in accord- 1 
ance with certain constant, conscious purposes or prin- 
ciples of conduct. 

An individual is well developed only when he has 
had experience both in modifying things in accordance 
with his desires and in modifying himself in accordance 
with conditions or rules that he cannot change. A per- 
sonality that seeks to impose its desires and wishes 
upon every thing and every body, if unchecked, be- 
comes an undesirable member of society and an erratic, 
unhappy individual. For his own good and for the ad- 
vantage of society he must realize that nature and so- 
ciety are stronger than he is, and instead of fretting or 
dashing himself against law he must learn to direct his 
actions according to rules and must change himself so 
that he will desire to conform to law. This development 
of personality may be produced to some extent by con- 
sistently enforced obedience but is better produced, 
where practicable, by having the individual engage in 
work and meet various social situations. These always 
require regulation of conduct and conformity to natural 
and social laws. 

Unity of Personality. Not only should a well devel- 
oped personality be self -directing, but it should at all 
times be an organized, consistent unity or be progress- 
ing toward such unity. This does not mean that one 
may not change his characteristics at different stages 



8 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

of development but merely that at each stage there 
shall be unity and harmony rather than varied and 
conflicting tendencies. 

Although ideals should be in advance of habits, yet 
if they are too remote to influence conduct in the 
direction of forming habits in accord with them, the in- 
dividual is weaker, and therefore not so vicious or 
virtuous a person as he would be if his ideals and habits 
were in accord. In a similar way the formation of 
habits of one type under authoritative control, while at 
the same time holding opposing ideals of conduct, is 
weakening. If there is no great or long continued con- 
scious repugnance to the directed action the tendency 
is, however, for one to become used to the action and 
finally to regard it with favor and pleasure. On the 
other hand, if the feelings are strong they are likely to 
modify the conduct either gradually as there is opportu- 
nity or in a sudden rebellion. It is very undesirable that 
the conflict between impulse and habit should be long 
continued with one, and then the other, in ascendancy. 

Still worse in their ultimate effects may be the results 
of conflicts within the individual's own consciousness. 
Where one's own ideals are opposed by his desires there 
is war within the governing authority of consciousness. 
If the conflict can be settled by thinking about the 
matter and definitely deciding to give up one of the op^ 
posing tendencies and acting accordingly, the unity of 
the conscious self is restored. If this is done every time 
and the decision carried out without again opening the 
controversy, unity and strength of personality tend to 
be developed and established. 

If on the other hand the conflict is not definitely 
settled one way or the other, but continually renewed, 



THE PERSONALITY 9 

or if it is settled by sheer force of will that merely com- 
pels action in one direction without changing the desire 
to do the opposite, the results are likely to be unfortu- 
i, nate. An impulse that is neither replaced by another' 
j nor given some sort of an outlet, may poison or para- 
lyze as does a closed wound or a felon. Freud, Sidis, 
Prince and others have treated many cases of disordered 
personality caused by such suppression of impulses. 
There is good reason to believe that what are some- 
times called " strangulated ideas" and impulses are the 
sources of a large proportion of cases of hysteria, dis- 
ordered personality, diseased will and insanity that are 
not mainly physical in their origin. It is therefore of 
supreme importance to the health and strength of the 
mental self that its various states shall be harmonized 
and unified. 

This means that one must have some sort of a philo- 
sophy of life and a moral code as well as standards of 
truth, taste, value, etc. that are harmonized with each 
other and with one's conduct. When any one of these 
change it is necessary that the others shall change to har- 
monize with it, if a healthful unity of personality is to be 
maintained. An individual may therefore be dominated 
by quite different impulses and ideas at different times, 
and yet his nature at each stage be a harmonious unity. 
There is, however, some loss of efficiency if one stage 
does not prepare for the next, and much loss if it is of 
a character that hinders the fullest development of the 
personality at each stage. 

EXERCISES 

1. Name if you can anything that has a value independ- 
ent of any relation to a person. 



10 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

2. Is there such a thing as beauty without a person to see 
it? 

3. Is a hermit life favorable to mental health ? Why ? 

4. In the present world could a mind exist without a body 
with senses and muscles ? 

5. How nearly complete is your control of your own body ? 
How may it be increased ? 

6. Write a list of a hundred words as quickly as you can. 
After doing so look them over and see how many have no 
relation to anything you see, hear or feel at the moment. 

7. Illustrate individual differences in ideas aroused by the 
same objects. 

8. Give an example of a person showing little self -direc- 
tion and of one showing great independence. 

9. Which is most likely to realize the necessity of conform- 
ing to law, a farmer or a speculator ? Why ? 

10. What is the effect of changing one's mind often or 
of cherishing secret wishes opposed to one's ideals ? Why ? 



CHAPTER II 

INTEREST 

Nature and Functions. With no state of conscious- 
ness is tlie development of the mental life so closely as- 
sociated as with interest. The character and degree of 
one's interest at any time reveal what he is and indicate 
what he has been and is likely to become. Interest is to 
mental life what digestion is to the physical. It deter- 
mines what of the surroundings shall become a part of 
the mental seK and how all shall be organized and re- 
lated in consciousness. Interest not only makes one 
sensitive, either for the moment or permanently, to cer- 
tain kinds of stimuli and causes corresponding ideas to 
survive in consciousness, but it gives a bent to the 
mind, directs the organization of ideas and thus deter- 
mines what the future mental states shall be. One who 
is interested in birds will hear and see them more read- 
ily than other persons, will approach them and note 
their relation to the surroundings, will seek confirma- 
tion of his observations from other persons and from 
books and will, to a considerable extent, organize his 
ideas of nature, books and people with reference to their 
power to gratify his interest in birds. 

Interest is usually regarded as a feeling or affective 
state of consciousness that is associated with corre- 
sponding activities of attention and associated move- 
ments. Interest may also exist in the form of an 
unconscious tendency to respond to certain kinds of 
stimulation. Many natural and acquired tendencies to 



12 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

be interested in certain things are therefore represented 
in consciousness only during the stimulation that gives 
occasion to the activity. The bird lover may therefore 
be said to be interested in birds although at the moment 
his mind may be wholly occupied with other things. 
This permanent potential interest is easily changed into 
a positive active interest by the sight or sound of a bird, 
as is not the case with one who is not thus interested. 
The term interest is used to imply not only a feeling or 
readiness to feel in certain ways, but also the determi- 
nation of the direction and degree of activity and effort. 
In this sense its meaning is almost identical with one 
meaning of attention. 

■ There is a physiological and neural basis for all inter- 
est. The kind of food an animal or person is interested 
in depends upon his physiological structure and his 
previous habits. One can have no visual interest, prop- 
erly speaking, if he lacks the necessary sense organ. 
Even in one who has normal sight there may be little 
interest aroused by visual sensations if the surround- 
ings and his previous experiences in the form of habits 
do not tend to arouse it. 

Interest is to the mental life what coordination of 
movements is to physical efficiency. Movements are of 
no value unless they are related and coordinated so as 
to be used now for one end, now for another. In a 
similar way the mental life is effective only as ideas 
are coordinated by the various interests. Birds may be 
thought of as types of animal life, as objects of beauty 
or as useful in destroying insects, according as the sci- 
entific, aesthetic or economic interest predominates. 
The mental life is thus organized and unified in rela- 
tion to each class of objects according to the nature of 



INTEREST 13 

the interest that dominates. Our observation and 
thought about a pencil is determined by our needs. In- 
terest in it may be determined by its use for writing 
or drawing, as an article of manufacture and com- 
merce, as something to measure or poke with, etc. In 
each case a different adjustment of ideas and acts is 
required. 

Without interest to unify our mental life, conscious- 
ness would be a jumble of miscellaneous states, while 
with it all are related and unified by whatever interest, 
momentary or permanent, serves as a determining prin- 
ciple of selection and organization. A sudden sound 
such as the ringing of a bell may disturb the present 
unity of our mental state and we are then interested 
until an explanation of the sound is found in some- 
thing in our surroundings, either actually perceived or 
represented. In a similar way every feeling, image and 
idea that appears in the mind is likely to give rise to 
ideas that relate it to other sensations, images, ideas 
and movements. Whenever there is interest, activity 
continues until the want is satisfied and equilibrium 
restored or until the interest dies out without culminat- 
ing in a unified mental state. In all thinking, the men- 
tal states are modified and ideas formed that bring 
into harmony what seemed unexplained, incomplete 
or conflicting. 

It is contrary to the nature of consciousness to hold 
in mind a number of diverse states without striving to 
relate and unify them. Interest is therefore an indi-l 
cator and preserver of healthful mental life. When we 
lose interest in everything our mental life drops to a 
very low ebb. On the other hand, the continued domi- 
nance of interest associated with one idea only is also 



14 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

suggestive of mental disturbance. Many insane patients 
cannot be diverted in any way from one idea that 
dominates all their thought. Still more serious are the 
cases where there is no persistence of interest. The 
patient's ideas are diverse and disconnected to such an 
extent that his attention cannot be held for a single 
moment. So necessary are persistent, active and varied 
interests to a healthy mental life that one who loses his 
interest in everything should be placed under the care 
of a physician. 

Teachers sometimes say that a child is not interested 
in anything, but if the child is healthy this is only a 
partial truth. After further observation he will be 
found to be interested in something on the playground 
or at home, if not in any of the school work. This pre- 
serves his mental health, yet, if during school hours he 
is not interested in anything, his mental life is being 
impoverished in the same way as would be the physical 
if the processes of digesting and assimilating food were 
to cease for long periods of time. Forcing knowledge 
upon one without arousing interest, like giving food 
when there is no appetite, is likely to produce mental 
indigestion. Varied and intense interests on the other 
hand necessarily promote the development of a vigorous 
mental life. 

It is through interesting activity that all of our com- 
plex sensory motor, representative and thought proces- 
ses are related and unified. In constructing a table, 
making a dress or writing a composition, none of the 
movements or ideas have any significance except in re- 
lation to the attainment of the end, the securing of 
which satisfies the interest. The same is true of all of our 
activities. The meaning of a long series of acts, even of 



INTEREST 15 

one's whole life, can be understood only in relation to 
the interest that dominated the activity. Mind and 
character are therefore moulded by interest. Harmony 
and unity are attained only when each interest is re- 
lated to a suitable form of activity and when all inter- 
ests and activities are related to a few dominant inter- 
ests, such as those of science, art, philosophy. The 
most inclusive form of interest that unifies all others is 
often that of religion. Just in proportion as one has 
many interests properly related and unified by some 
higher and dominating interest, is his mental life and 
character developed and efficient, while the lack of uni- 
fying interests means an inconsistent, inefficient char- 
acter. The subject of interest is therefore of the great- ) 
est importance to all educators. 

Relation of Interest to Instincts. It is easily un- 
derstood that the interests of animals are closely re- 
lated to their instincts. In the case of man, with his 
numerous and easily modified instincts, the relation is 
less evident but doubtless is equally close. 

It is clearly evident however that a hungry child or 
man is ready to respond to anything connected with 
food. This is especially true when there is a consider- 
able interval of time before food is obtained. A starv- 
ing man's thoughts when awake and his dreams when 
asleep are as a rule almost wholly concerned with food. 
It is only when this fundamental instinct is satisfied 
that he is ready to be interested in other things. Some- 
times, however, the higher intellectual interests will for 
a considerable time prevent one from thinking of food. 
Fear and anger are also very strong stimuli to interest. 

It has often been supposed that interest is propor- 
tioned to the amount of feeling being experienced or 



16 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

anticipated. This is not, however, necessarily the case. 
The tendency to think and to dream of food and eating, 
when hungry, is of a strength wholly disproportionate to 
the pleasure the taste of the food will give. In fact 
the starving man is likely to devour food so rapidly 
that he scarcely tastes it. It is also true of fear, sex 
and other instincts that the feelings experienced do not, 
of themselves, account for the persistency and intensity 
of the interest aroused in connection with those in- 
stincts. 

We are so constructed that to do certain things seems 
desirable, and memory of former pleasure in those things 
increases the desirability, but representation of the plea- 
sure or pleasures does not usually add greatly to the 
impulse to act. The child is powerfully impelled to do 
what he has seen some one else do, the boy to win in a 
game, the man to secure a wife, a house, or an office, be- 
cause they are desirable and interesting in themselves, 
and because they mean the securing of other things that 
are desirable and interesting, aU of which suggest plea- 
sure to be experienced, but do not necessarily involve the 
representation of pleasure as such. He who dwells 
upon the pleasure to be felt rather than the end to be 
gained, is liable to lose interest in everything ex- 
cept himself, and may be led to say, " What is the use 
of it all ? " On the other hand he who represents as at- 
tractive many ends and activities and perceives their 
relations to each other, never lacks for interests. 

Primarily, objects and acts are attractive or repugnant 
because our nature is what it is, or in other words, be- 
cause our instincts are what they are. Odors, tastes, 
sounds and sights that are very repugnant to us may be 
very attractive to animals whose instincts differ from 



INTEREST 17 

those of man, and the same is true of activities of va- 
rious kinds. 

The longer the interval between the arousal of an 
instinctive tendency and its satisfaction, the more chance 
there is for interest to be awakened. A child is less in- 
terested in eating than in preparations to give him 
food. In man this is the case to a much greater extent 
than in animals, for he satisfies many of his instincts by 
indirect means, such as the use of tools. To a consider- 
able extent, mental activity involving interest takes 
the place in man of objective movements. This is es- 
pecially true of civilized man, who obtains food, shelter, 
safety, by such indirect means as engaging in some 
industry or profession. 

Although when fully aroused, the interests associated 
with the biologically useful instincts are among the 
most powerful in man as they are in animals, yet in 
more highly civilized man they are for the most part 
subordinate to the more intellectual and social interests. 
For the intellectual life of man it is as important that 
his ideas shall be in harmony with those of other people 
as it is for his physical life that he shall react in ap- 
propriate ways to his physical environment. There is 
some physical necessity and a very marked psychical 
necessity for man to react properly to people and to their 
customs, emotional states and intellectual beliefs. The 
social interests are therefore very prominent in man 
and are associated with all other kinds of interest. 
Interest in food, clothing and shelter, although based 
on biological needs, is to a considerable extent domi- 
nantly social. We desire not so much what will sus- 
tain life, as that kind of food, furniture, clothes, 
houses, etc., that will favorably impress other people 



18 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

and give us the feeling of being in social harmony 
with them. 
I Esthetic interests of various kinds, as aroused by 
^ form, color and sound, are universal and of considerable 
strength even in the savage, who even decorates his war 
club to make it more beautiful. This interest is, how- 
ever, distinctly one that can reach its fullest develop- 
; ment only when it is socially shared with others. 

The collective, constructive and expressive instincts 
as well as those of imitation, play and curiosity are 
among the most important sources of interest in man 
and are all, to a considerable extent, concerned with 
people rather than with things. By means of artificial 
language, more definite mental states are developed and 
it is possible to correlate and harmonize more closely 
one's mental states with those of other persons. This 
makes possible the development of the higher social and 
intellectual interests that so continuously dominate in 
the minds of cultured men. 

Even in the case of an infant whose intellectual 
development has not proceeded very far, the higher 
interests are dominant the greater portion of the waking 
time if his bodily wants are kept reasonably satisfied. 
If interests depended only upon the biologically useful 
instincts there could be but little development of intel- 
lectual interest. Almost from the first, however, a child 
[ shows instinctive tendencies that give rise to the higher 
' intellectual interests which are the chief means of his 
mental development. Just in proportion as these higher 
interests dominate, does the human soul develop the 
characteristics that distinguish it from the mind of ani- 
mals. 

Work and Play Interests. The two chief native 



INTEREST 19 

forms of interest that are given force by instinctive ten- 
dencies are those of work [and play. In general, the 
biologically useful instincts are primarily sources of work 
interests, since the objects, food, escape, etc. are the 
ends that must be secured ; yet in the young which are 
protected from the environment, they are also sources 
of much "playful activity. The young animal plays at 
fighting and at capturing prey before it engages in those 
activities as serious work, and the child playfully imi- 
tates the work of adults. The adaptive, social, aesthetic 
and other higher instincts are however the primarily 
important sources of play interests in man. Playful in- 
terests may lead to work interests, as when there is 
a definite attempt to obtain or produce something beauti- 
ful or intellectually satisfying. 

Work and play interests, although often contrasted, 
have much in common. They are both natural in the 
sense that they arise within consciousness as it reacts 
to its environment, instead of being arbitrarily imposed 
by some other consciousness. Play is often supposed to 
be the dominant interest of childhood and work of matu- 
rity. As a matter of fact the interests of the young 
child are not clearly differentiated into those of work 
and play while the activities of the mature man may 
combine the two forms of interest. In childhood and 
youth they are often very sharply contrasted. 

Play always implies freedom to do or not to do a cer- 
tain thing, and also freedom in doing, as regards how it 
shall be done and how long the activity shall continue. 
The end, though serving to unify the activities, is in it- 
self of little importance. Work on the other hand in- 
volves some limitations of freedom because there is some 
kind of necessity for doing the thing, a certain time for 



20 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

doing it and certain ways in which it must be done. 
The end itself is important while the activity of gaining 
it is relatively of less significance. The child who is play- 
ing at cooking may begin or stop at any time, use what- 
ever materials he pleases, perform the imaginary act of 
cooking in any way that suits him, and throw away the pro- 
duct when it is finished. In the case of the woman who is 
actually cooking, there is some kind of necessity that it 
should be done and at a certain time, and she can use 
only the proper materials in the right proportions, hence 
her activities are directed by the end to be gained, and 
the conditions and the nature of the material with 
which she is working, while the product is of value in 
itself. 

When a child is using blocks in building a house, 
especially when he is trying to build a certain style of 
house, his activity involves some of the characteristics 
of both work and play. He is free to do it or not, with- 
out unpleasant consequences, and he may stop at any 
time he chooses. The mere movement of the blocks may 
also be a pleasing form of activity. Thus far his actions 
have the characteristics of play. In so far as he has an 
end to be reached in the form of a certain structure or 
definite style of house which can be made only by select- 
ing and placing the blocks in accordance with that idea, 
his activity has the characteristic of work, in that 
it is directed by the end. If the house is to be preserved 
for some time, the end to be gained is also of some per- 
manent importance, as it usually is in work. This and 
many other activities of the child, therefore, involve the 
essential elements of both work and play. 

In a similar way an adult cook or carpenter may 
einjoy the activity leading to a successful result and 



INTEREST 21 

freely choose to engage in it and carry it on in the 
proper way, when there is no necessity in the form of 
unpleasant consequences requiring the act to be per- 
formed. In like manner every occupation of adult life, 
either manual or mental, may combine the essential ele- 
ments of work and play. In order that this may be the 
case, the activity itself must be so related to the na- 
tural and acquired tendencies that it is at least not dis- 
agreeable, and one must be confident and skillful in 
carrying it on in the way that wiU bring the desired 
result. 

Games and sports present other examples of the com- 
bination of the characteristics of work and play. In 
games there is the freedom to begin and stop when one 
wishes and choice as to what games shall be played, but 
there are usually some rules in accordance with which 
the activity must be directed. The pleasure of the game 
does not consist so much in the separate actions them- 
selves as in their relation to the attainment of some 
end, usually in competition with some other person or 
persons. The end attained, however, unlike the end in 
work activity, has no permanent value in itself. 

Sports of various kinds involve the same elements of 
freedom as do games. Some of the separate activities 
may be in themselves disagreeable, but when combined 
with others in reaching some end, such as winning the 
race or hitting the mark, they may be very enjoyable. 
If the end has some permanent value and there is some 
necessity of securing it, the game or sport may be 
transformed almost completely into work. 

Activities known as amusements belong to the more 
passive form of play interest, the activity usually being 
aroused and directed by some one else. There is free- 



22 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

dom to choose any form of movements and no necessity 
to gain any specific end. The work element is, however, 
brought in to some extent if the amusement is regarded 
also as a means of culture, or as a necessary recreation 
preliminary to success in some other line of work. If 
one takes some active part in the amusement, as he may 
do in literary, artistic and scientific lines, the activity 
may combine the elements of play, amusement and work. 

In one's vocation it is possible to combine play and 
work to a considerable extent. Although one must do 
something, he may choose his occupation and having 
acquired skill in pursuing it and become habituated to 
certain hours and places of working, he will feel no 
limitation of his freedom in doing the right thing, at 
the right time, in the right way, and he may enjoy the 
activity of doing it as much or more than the perma- 
nent results that he secures. 

Work and play interests are not only often combined in 
a harmonious way, but they naturally alternate and each 
by contrast increases the interest in the other. While 
working, the thought of play to follow adds intensity to 
the interest because it presents a motive and suggests a 
contrast. The free play is enjoyed after the directed 
effort of work and one is refreshed for vigorous work 
again. This rhythmic relation of the two types of activ- 
ity is easily established at an early age and may well be 
preserved all through life. Only in the proper combina- 
tion and alternation of play and work interests can de- 
veloping consciousness find its continuous equilibrium 
and its completest satisfaction. The child never works 
so vigorously as when a chance to play is the reward 
and never enjoys play so much as when it comes m a 
relief and reward after work. 



INTEREST 23 

The same is true of men. Most of them work that 
they may indulge their play impulses in some form or 
other, in games, sports, music, the theatre, art, litera- 
ture, social activity and personal penchants of whatever 
kind. The individual and the race that have no such 
desires for play and amusement are usually shiftless 
through lack of motive. There is no reason why they 
should work steadily or provide for the future so long 
as they meet the actual necessities of life as they come. 
Civilization differs from savagery largely in the fact 
that civilized man has many forms of play and amuse- 
ment that serve as motives for work. 

The importance of play and amusement is increasing 
with civilization because the hours of necessary labor 
are becoming shorter and specialization in industries 
gives exercise to only a few powers. Hence playful 
exercises are needed both as a means of recreation and 
as a means of more complete development. 

Work interest is associated with ends that are re- 
garded as necessary to the physical or mental life. 
Hence, however useful work interests may be in making 
an individual an efficient member of society, they are 
not the primary influence in developing the personal 
self. It is in play interest that the selective function 
of consciousness is at its maximum. In general, work 
interests are forced upon one by circumstances, while 
play interests represent free choices of the self. Work 
interests help to mould the personality in accordance 
with the surroundings in which one is placed, while 
play interests develop it from within according to its 
own nature. Work interests lead us to make a living 
while play interests enable us to live more fully the life 
demanded by our own nature. Work interests are there- 



24 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

fore primarily valuable in preparing for one's vocation, 
and play interests, in acquiring culture and general 
power. 

Varieties of Work Interest. In all work interest 
there is some kind of necessity for attaining the end 
toward which the effort is directed. In animals this in- 
terest is usually comparatively transient, since they use 
only the more direct means of obtaining the necessary 
ends of food, safety, etc. In man it is very much pro- 
longed, because through the use of tools and machinery 
and the exchange of goods very indirect means of se- 
curing ends are used. 

In natural work interest the end to be reached and 
the means by which it is to be secured are clearly re- 
lated in consciousness. The means used are not arbi- 
trarily chosen, but seem to be determined by the nature 
of things. In more primitive conditions of life the 
means are determined by the laws of nature, and in 
order to attain any given end, such as food of a certain 
kind, one must conform to the laws of nature in going 
to places where such food is found, taking the necessary 
means of capturing it or of raising it by planting and 
cultivating the ground. 

In more highly civilized society the laws of nature 
are more fully known and utilized, yet the ordinary 
worker who is running a machine has his actions deter- 
mined, not by his knowledge of the laws of nature, but 
by his knowledge of how the machine works. He obtains 
the means of purchasing the food that has been secured 
by others by manipulating the machine in accordance 
with the way it has been made to work. He may also 
find that he can secure better rewards for his labor by 
acting in such ways as wiU secure the favor of those 



INTEREST 25 

with and for whom he is working. Much of what the 
modern workman does, therefore, in laboring to secure 
the necessities of life is not clearly recognized as a 
means which in the nature of things must be used to 
secure the ends for which he is working. 

If he studies the machine with which he is working 
so as to make it do the most effective work possible, and 
if his rewards are felt to be proportionate to the effi- 
ciency of his work, he has a genuine work interest simi- 
lar to that of the more primitive hunter, agriculturist 
or hand worker. If, on the other hand, he makes no 
study of the machine on which he is working, but merely 
does as he is told and tries to keep the favor of the 
boss, and by that means, or through his union, to get as 
large wages as possible, he has very little genuine work 
interest, because he is not directed by a feeling of natural 
relation between the end desired and the means used. 

The boy who is selling papers has a genuine work in- 
terest in the calculations necessary in his business. When, 
however, he works problems in school whose relation to 
any end that he wishes to gain is not perceived by him, 
he has not the same sort of genuine work interest in the 
calculations. If he believes that working such problems 
will help him to secure ends that he will wish to attain 
later in life, he may have a genuine work interest in the 
problem, although it is likely to be less intense than 
when he has some more immediate end to be secured. 

He may wish to solve a problem because solving it 
maybe a means of gaining a reward or avoiding a pun- 
ishment. In that case the interest is not primarily in 
the mathematical operations, but in securing the reward 
or avoiding the punishment. If, however, he has to 
study out the method of solving the problem in order 



26 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

to secure a desired result, his activities are directed in 
the same way as they would be if the solution of the 
problem were the motive. If, however, he is told what 
to do and how to do it and avoids punishment or secures 
reward by following directions, he may have no clear per- 
ception of the relation of the operations gone through 
to the answer obtained. If he is not told what to do, 
but can get suggestions of how to proceed from com- 
panions or from the teacher's voice or expression of 
face, or from the answer in the book, he may still be 
able to get the answer without perceiving the mathe- 
matical relations involved, and he has of course no 
real mathematical interest. 

If he is offered a prize for certain attainments in 
mathematical ability, which can be secured only by a 
thorough understanding of the operations involved, he 
has an interest that is genuine so far as the mathematical 
calculations are concerned, but the reward is probably 
artificial in the sense that it is specially given rather 
than one that can usually be secured by the exercise of 
such ability. 

One who simply follows directions as does a slave, 
without any appreciation of the relation of what he is 
doing to the results that will follow, is not actuated by 
any of the essential characteristics of a genuine work 
interest. His activities are not self-determined by a 
consciousness of the relation of those activities to de- 
sired ends, but are outwardly determined by the direc- 
tions of another in order to obtain ends that are also 
under the control of some one else. It is undoubtedly 
true that this is the condition of a great many children 
in school. They are doing what they are told to do 
without any clear perception of the relation of what they 



INTEREST 27 

are doing to any end, either immediate or remote, ex- 
except that of getting along comfortably in school. 

A child who is very anxious to please his teacher 
will do anything she wants him to do with numbers, but 
he is not therefore necessarily interested in mathemat- 
ical work in the sense of trying to find the means of 
getting results that are useful. He is often studying 
what will please the teacher rather than the necessary 
truths of mathematics. 

Where the marking system is used he may care for 
the marks as an evidence of the approval of the teacher 
and as a means of securing the approval of parents 
and perhaps the envy of other children and as a condi- 
tion for promotion to another grade, or even to another 
school. If he has no other reason than the mark for 
succeeding, he will use the means that are easiest to 
him for securing that mark. These means involve to a 
large extent a knowledge of the peculiarities of the 
teacher. There may be no interest in the operations 
themselves except as a means to the end of securing 
marks when all other means fail. A student working 
for marks is therefore often like a contractor who studies 
politicians and political methods in order to get profitable 
contracts, instead of studying his business in order to do 
his work most efficiently. 

We see, therefore, that there are many varieties of 
work interest of varying degrees of genuineness and 
completeness. It is evident that work interest is of the 
greatest value when the end to be gained is one con- 
forming to the higher phases of man's nature, is one 
made necessary by the laws of the natural and human 
environment in which one is placed or is to live in the 
future, and when the relations between the end and the 



28 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

means are also fundamental and are discovered or at 
least clearly perceived by the individual who is work- 
ing. Such genuine work interest not only prepares one 
for the greatest efficiency in the higher forms of in- 
dustry and professional practice in the future, but also 
promotes the most effective and harmonious develop- 
ment of the personality at the time. 

Associated and Transferred Interests. In the 
purely instinctive actions of animals there are more or 
less immediate and specifically defined movements by 
which the instinctive tendencies are manifested. In man 
these movements are less definitely defined and he has 
an infinite number of indirect means of satisfying many 
of the instincts. There are thousands of different kinds 
of activity that may become interesting to man because 
they are means of obtaining food, shelter, protection and 
enjoyment. The only thing necessary to arouse a work 
interest in any form of activity is to perceive that such 
activity is a means to the satisfaction of an instinctive 
need. 

A work interest in any form of activity, established 
by persistent practice, may result in the activity itself 
becoming pleasurable and interesting. If one's thought 
becomes occupied more with the activity itself than 
with the permanent value of the result to be obtained, 
the feelings associated with it and the stimulus to such 
activity become more playful in character. To many 
men business finally becomes a sort of a game in which 
the activity of doing and succeeding is enjoyed more 
than the results in the form of wealth and what it 
may bring. In a similar way the play interest may 
emerge in every occupation and in all forms of intellect- 
ual effort. 



INTEREST 29 

Whenever an interest has been developed in any oc- 
cupation, activity, or knowledge, interest in any other 
occupation or set of facts may be roused by showing 
its relation to those in which there is already interest. 
In this way one who is interested in machines may be 
led to an interest in mathematics, when he finds that 
he cannot reach the highest success without a more 
complete knowledge of mathematical operations. In a 
similar way one who is interested in politics may be- 
come interested in the sciences or biology and phy- 
siology as when legislation is demanded regarding 
agriculture and health. 

Again, any activity, whatever the motive for engaging 
in it in the first place and whether it is naturally 
agreeable or not, may become so if there are uniformly 
pleasant associations connected with carrying it on and 
if the pleasure of success or other reward always results 
from it. The pleasure associated with the activity, per- 
haps in an incidental or arbitrary way, is thus trans- 
ferred to the activity itself. Practice also gives a free- 
dom in action that prepares the way for a more specific 
play interest in what is being done. It is therefore pos- 
sible to develop an interest in almost any form of ac- 
tivity if it is carried on under pleasant associations and 
is so planned that it is neither too easy nor too difficult. 

There is very little natural basis for interest in such 
a subject as Latin although some natural curiosity 
may be excited in the beginning of the study. It is an 
undoubted fact, however, that a very intense and per- 
manent interest in Latin has been developed in many 
individuals, often without any appeal to natural curi- 
osity. Under effective teaching a pupil succeeds in 
learning the lesson assigned him and is each day able to 



30 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

use the results of his previous lessons in the new exer- 
cises that he undertakes. The otherwise uninteresting 
process is enlivened by competition with his mates, by 
the approval of the teacher and the pleasure of success. 
These are in part transferred to the act of learning and 
as he acquires skill in the application of the knowledge 
gained, somethiug of a play interest in studying and 
translating is developed. 

A permanent interest of this sort can, however, rarely 
be developed without many years of study. The old 
time student of Latin who continued to read it all his 
life because of the pleasure it gave him has now become 
comparatively rare. In the case of the modern high 
school and 'college student, Latin is not pursued long 
enough and exclusively enough to develop such a per- 
manent interest. In few subjects can one more effect- 
ively get the consciousness of successful effort than in 
Latin when the lessons are properly arranged, but there 
are many other subjects more closely related to things 
in which there is already an interest and that seem more 
directly related to practical success in many occupations. 
Comparatively few present day students therefore de- 
velop a permanent interest in Latin. 

Mathematics have all the advantages of Latin in an 
increased degree, as regards the arrangement of the 
work so that what has been previously learned can be 
used and success attained. They have also the advan- 
tage of being associated with many interesting activities 
even before the child enters school. The early work in 
numbers has not usually been arranged as well as it 
might be, so that what is learned each day can be used 
the next day in some new exercise, yet a play interest 
in mathematical calculations is very frequently de- 



INTEREST 31 

veloped. An unnecessary amount of formal drill has 
been given in learning number combinations, instead of 
incidental drill while doing new things. For example, 
after learning to combine small numbers, drill may be 
obtained by adding and multiplying tens, hundreds and 
thousands mentally : drill in the multiplication and ad- 
dition tables, by written multiplication with two or more 
digits ; and in division, multiplication and subtraction 
tables by written division examples, etc. The formal drill 
has been made interesting by various devices trans- 
forming it into a game involving competition, which is 
often effective, but which does not so often develop a 
genuine mathematical interest as arranging the work in 
such a way that what is known can continually be used 
in new operations that are just difficult enough to give 
the keen pleasure of successful effort. We have perhaps 
now not as much as formerly youths and men who have 
the genuine play interest in mathematical calculations, 
which leads them to solve problems for the pleasure of it 
as others solve puzzles. 

Artificial and Natural Interests. The term artificial 
interest implies that it has come into existence by some 
special act of a person rather than in the natural course 
of events. There is also the implication that it lacks the 
essential or permanent characteristics of the real thing. 
The interest aroused through the ordinary association 
with things and people and which under ordinary circum- 
stances is self -perpetuating, may be regarded as genuine, 
natural interest. It is difficult, however, to distinguish 
between the interests arising from ordinary associa- 
tions with people and those intentionally produced for a 
purpose. Since interests are so readily transferred and 
may then become self-perpetuating, it is exceedingly 



32 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

difficult to draw the line between artificial and genuine 
interests. In general, however, only pure work interests, 
pure play interests or combinations of the two that arise 
and continue under ordinary conditions are genuine in- 
terests, while all others are wholly or partially artifi- 
cial. 

It has been held that interests in the school must in 
the nature of the case be at first largely artificial. The 
child is supposed to be preparing for adult life, but he 
is not surrounded by the conditions of adult life and has 
not within himseK the natural impulses of adults. It is 
assumed therefore that interest in adult activities must 
be artificially stimulated. It may be questioned in the 
first place whether the child cannot in a large measure 
better be prepared for adult life by living most com- 
pletely the life of a child and developing in a natural 
way the interests of childhood, later youth and manhood, 
as the conditions and instinctive tendencies change. 

Passing this question, however, we may consider, on 
the supposition that the child must engage in some 
activities suited to adult life, whether he must necessa- 
rily be stimulated to do so by arousing artificial inter- 
ests exclusively. We note in the first place that child- 
ren show a very strong tendency to notice what adults 
do and to imitate every form of activity in which they 
engage. This interest which is at first of an entirely 
playful character may readily be cultivated in many of 
the school subjects. 

At a later stage children are interested not only in 
playfully imitating acts by actual movements or in im- 
aginative play, but they become more interested in a 
serious way as they think of what they are to do when 
they become men. This natural work interest, though 



INTEREST 33 

the end is rather remote, may have considerable influ- 
ence especially as children approach puberty. 

Again, children spontaneously undertake many forms 
of construction and may be led to see that in order to 
attain their end successfully they must learn or practice 
a number of things that are ordinarily given in the 
special studies in school. Children are also naturally 
curious and as they become familiar with the things and 
people of their own environment they readily become 
interested in things and people to be found in other 
places and ages. Hence there is a natural basis for in- 
terest in geography, history and the sciences. 

There are also natural interests in color, rhythm, 
sentiment and humor, that serve as a basis for interest 
in art, nature and literature. In order to gratify these 
various interests, artistic, constructive and literary, the 
child finds it necessary to be interested to a greater or 
less extent in the more formal subjects of reading, writ- 
ing and arithmetic. 

If the elements of knowledge and skill required for 
adult life are presented to children at the time and in 
a manner and order best suited to arouse their natural 
play and work interest, comparatively little will need to 
be done in the way of artificially arousing interest in 
the school subjects, beyond having the work done under 
pleasant associations. 

When the attempt is made to arouse artificial inter- 
est it should be done under the following limitations. The 
interest should be as little artificial as possible and 
should be transformed into a genuine interest that will 
be self-perpetuating under the usual conditions of life. 
The approval of teachers, parents and others, of effort 
in any line is less artificial than the giving of a mark 



34 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

or of a degree. Approval of others always remains as 
a natural stimulus to effort in any line, while marks are 
given only under special conditions and are a stimulus 
not so much because they indicate approval, as because 
they are a means to promotion or are a special kind of 
evidence of successful competition. Both personal ap- 
proval and marks give associative rather than intrinsic 
interest in the subjects themselves and the activities in- 
volved, but personal approval, because of its naturalness 
and long continuance, is more likely to result in the 
transference of interest to the activities and ends in- 
volved. 

In so far as subjects are being pursued for practical 
purposes such as are involved in the more mechanical 
processes carried on under the direction of another, ar- 
tificial interests will serve as well as genuine natural in- 
terests, providing they can be made sufficiently strong 
to result in as accurate and permanent knowledge or 
skill. The methods of arousing artificial interests may 
more easily be formulated and carried into execution 
than those for appealing to natural interests and de- 
veloping them into genuine permanent interests. By 
depending upon artificial interests it is possible to have 
a regular program of work, while in appealing to natural 
interest the impulses prominent in the individual at 
the time must continually be considered and the work 
adapted to his impulses instead of his being required to 
conform to the schedule in his work. So far as practical 
education is concerned the ordinary teacher can more 
surely cause the child to acquire the necessary know- 
ledge and skill partly or wholly through arousing arti- 
ficial interests than by depending chiefly upon natural 
interests. The highly skilled teacher on the other hand 



INTEREST 35 

may secure better results in a shorter time by depend- 
ing almost wholly upon genuine interest naturally 
aroused. 

In so far as the purpose of education is to develop 
the personality of the individual, artificial interests are 
far less effective than the more natural and genuine 
ones. A certain type of character suited to the nation 
and class to which one belongs may be developed in a 
majority of people by means of artificial interest, and 
outward control may be continued until corresponding 
modes of acting and thinking become well established 
as habits. Some individuals are thus made fairly good 
members of society who would perhaps otherwise be 
disturbing elements, but on the other hand the individ- 
uality of many persons is thus suppressed so that they 
fall far short of realizing their highest possibilities. 
The most effectual development of individuality is pos- 
sible only when it takes place under the influence of 
interests arising from one's own natural impulses and 
in accordance with interests and ideals which he has 
adopted as his own. 

A distinction should be made between interest in an 
end and in the use of certain means for securing the 
end. Arbitrary assignment of tasks with freedom as to 
how they shall be done is often less objectionable than 
continual direction as to when and how a task begun 
under the impulse of some necessity or desire shall be 
performed. In the former case one is somewhat in the 
situation of the ordinary worker of whom certain results 
are required and whose intelligence and industry must 
be used in securing them, while the one who desires and 
depends upon some one else to direct him so his desires 
will be realized, is not developing the best characteris- 



36 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

tics of a good worker. When there is no interest in the 
end and continual direction as to what to do and when, 
as is often the case in school, mechanical habits may be 
developed but not intelligence. 

Utilization and Correlation of Interests. One of the 
chief problems for educators who depend chiefly upon 
artificial interests is to find means of developing and 
prolonging such interests. In solving this problem they 
are necessarily concerned with rewards and punishments 
as school incentives and with the arrangement of sub- 
jects and topics in such a way that the associated and 
artificial interests may be transformed into more genu- 
ine and permanent interests. 

Those on the other hand who believe more in utiliz- 
ing natural interests are concerned with the problem of 
the relative strength of the various instinctive tenden- 
cies and the arrangement of work and play activities so 
as to utilize to the best advantage the interests that are 
already naturally strong. They seek to utilize the cur- 
rents of a child's own nature and the winds of social 
influence, while the believers in artificial interests are 
manufacturing devices for driving the educational ves- 
sel in the desired direction. 

In selecting educative material the one who depends 
chiefly upon artificial interests selects that which he 
believes will be most valuable to the adult and tries to 
present it in a form and an order that will make it 
possible for the child to acquire an interest in it and 
develop the necessary knowledge and skill. 

The believer in natural interests on the other hand 
considers not so much what wiU be of value to the adult 
as what will be of interest to the child at the present 
time and will lead him to engage in vigorous activity in 



INTEREST 37 

ways that will promote full and harmonious develop- 
ment, and thus indirectly prepare him for success in 
adult activities. 

With educators of both views the problem of corre- 
lation is an important one. With one it is a problem of 
the correlation of subjects while with the other it is the 
correlation of interests and activities. Both recognize 
quite fully that isolated knowledge and skill cannot 
produce a strong and effective individual. The more 
completely all that one knows and can do is related and 
unified the more highly developed and efficient the per- 
sonality. 

Those who attempt to correlate subjects find the task 
one of great and increasing difficulty. More and more 
subjects are being introduced into the curriculum, and 
if each is organized in a systematic way as is usually 
thought necessary and as is really helpful in developing 
an acquired interest in the subject, it is necessary to a 
considerable extent to isolate the subject matter and 
arrange it without reference to other subjects. After 
keeping each subject separate from the others for a con- 
siderable time, it is difficult to bring them into proper 
relation because of the lack of a common unifying prin- 
ciple. 

To those who believe in the necessity of depending 
upon natural interest the problem is scarcely at all one 
of arranging facts and truths to be learned, but one 
of finding means of relating play and work activities 
and their dominating interests to each other. This is 
accomplished by getting pupils interested in doing 
things that will require a variety of activities properly 
related to each other in order to satisfy the interest. 

In order that various interests and activities may be 



38 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

correlated, it is only necessary that more and broader 
interests shall be aroused so that the child shall feel 
that what he is now doing is a means to doing some- 
thing else and that to something else, and so on until 
each thing that he does is related to his highest ambi- 
tions and ideals. Such correlation is a genuine correla- 
tion within the consciousness of the individual and favors 
a complete unification of his personality. 

The natural relation of work and play interests sim- 
ilar to that which the teacher should depend upon is il- 
lustrated by the following incidents. A boy a little over 
four, after having a hammer and saw, heard of some- 
thing that would bore holes and worked to get money to 
buy a brace and bit. Later, hearing that a chisel could 
be used to make the holes square he worked at hemming 
wash cloths for money to get one. With the chisel he 
started to dig a cellar for a house. Learning that a 
pick would be needed to get stones out he talked of 
earning money to buy one. Later he proposed to make 
a little factory for making things. Afterwards with 
some help he made a representation of a saw-mill with 
notched paste-board for a saw and strips of paper for a 
belt. Later he was much interested in using a wooden 
pick and made a box of laths to keep his tools in. 

This interest in tools continued. At nine he wished 
a play house and worked in the garden and at various 
chores to get money to buy material to put with some 
given him to construct the house. He then spent a good 
many hours in building the house, learning much inci- 
dentally of materials and how to use them. A year or 
two later he worked to earn money for materials and 
then spent a good deal of time constructing apparatus 
in the attic for games and gymnastics. Desiring to be- 



INTEREST 39 

come a good ball player he spent considerable time in 
practicing pitching, catching and batting when not en- 
gaged in a game. A little girl practiced certain stitches 
in order that she might make a satisfactory dress for a 
doll and again practiced painting and drawing in order 
to make a Christmas present for her mother. 

The doctrine of interest properly understood does 
not mean that a child shall never do anything except 
what he wishes to do, in the sense of leaving it to chance 
as to what wishes shall be excited in his mind. The 
teacher should bring to the child, in actual or repre- 
sentative form, any sort of environment that she sees fit 
and in this way excite the desire to reach ends and 
stimulate him to devise means for reaching them. On 
the negative side she should shield the child from any 
kind of environment that will surely be injurious to 
him at the time, while on the positive side she should 
present a great variety of environment, especially that 
which she thinks will be of the most use to him. Accord- 
ing to the doctrine of interest, the environment that is 
best suited to develop the child's nature will excite the 
feeling of need leading to active, interesting effort. 
Activity thus excited is likely to produce a more nor- 
mal development of the individual than any that can be 
produced under the authoritative direction of another 
person, without regard to the interest felt by the in- 
dividual. Not only should the educator present good 
and varied educative material as an environment to 
which the child is to react, but she should present it, 
as far as possible, at a time when the child is most sen- 
sitive to that kind of environment and most ready to en- 
gage in the form of activity required. 

Here again the value of the material to be presented 



40 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

at a given age cannot be determined without reference 
to the effect that it produces upon the individual. If 
it excites his interest and leads to active effort it is 
probably suited to his stage of development, though 
the teacher might otherwise think it better suited to an 
older or a younger person. 

Growing confidence in this doctrine of interest has 
led to an increase in the use of the elective system in 
colleges and high schools and has permitted a good deal 
of choice of reading on the part of younger children. In 
practice the doctrine has not worked perfectly, partly 
because education is not in general carried on according 
to that doctrine. Artificial interests are made promi- 
nent by the methods of teaching, examinations, marking, 
promotion and graduation so that the choice of subjects 
and the amount of work done in them are determined 
not so much by feelings of intellectual needs to be satis- 
fied as by the artificial needs of satisfying the teacher 
from day to day and securing promotions and diplo- 
mas. 

In special education preparatory to a particular oc- 
cupation, it may very properly be maintained that the 
subjects of study and the methods of pursuing them can 
better be prescribed by the teacher than chosen by the 
pupil. The pupil having decided what he wishes to do, 
may avoid much useless effort and waste of time by work- 
ing toward the end under the direction of those who are 
familiar with the most effective ways of reaching that end. 
In general education on the other hand, where the end is 
the development of the individual, there is good ground 
for taking the opposite view and saying that his develop- 
ment is more effectively secured by study of that which 
appeals to him the most, than it is by following any 



INTEREST 41 

fixed course of study prescribed by some one else. It 
is in the field of general education that there is least 
occasion for exciting artificial interest and least possi- 
bility of measuring progress, hence in that field there 
is least excuse for the giving of marks and degrees, es- 
pecially when they are used not merely to induce the 
pupil to do certain things, but to do them in certain 
ways. 

Development of Interest- As already indicated, 
play activity in any line generally precedes work in- 
terest when there is no immediate necessity for doing. 
Words, figures and other educative material of the 
school room may become objects of play just as are 
dolls, blocks, cards, etc., before the child goes to school. 
The play activity takes on more and more the charac- 
teristics of work as the child attempts more and more to 
produce certain combinations or results of more per- 
manent value. On the other hand, when natural or arti- 
ficial necessity induces one to engage in any form of 
activity until ease and facility are attained, the work 
activity may gradually become playful in character. 

The best results in both cases are obtained, not by 
trying to mix work and play, but by making the play so 
interesting that it develops the work characteristic and by 
making the work so effective that freedom and success 
result. The motive should in each case be either a lively 
play interest in doing or a strong work interest in the 
results to be obtained. One motive or the other should 
dominate except in very young children until the char- 
acter of the activity has so far changed that the other 
motive naturally takes its place. The attempt to mix 
the two motives is likely to result in " soft pedagogy " 
on the part of the teacher and dilettanteism on the part 



42 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

of the learner. The play interest may be utilized in 
getting a child to do what will be useful to him but use- 
fulness cannot be the child's motive for playing. When 
the child is playing, play interest must dominate and 
work interest be incidental, and when working, work 
interest must dominate and play interest be incidental. 
Work interest may lead to skill which exercised in a 
playful way will give pleasure but if one is working 
he must be directed by the work interest toward using 
the best means to the end, instead of by the idea of 
doing what is most pleasing. The desire to play may be 
one of the strongest motives for undertaking and finish- 
ing a piece of work, but the desire for certain results 
of permanent value cannot easily be used profitably as a 
stimulus to play of any kind. Although a child may, 
himself, often be actuated by a combined work and play 
interest, the attempt of some one else to get a child to 
act from both work and play interest is likely to fail. 
Unless the one type of interest dominates and the other 
is incidental there is danger that one interest will neu- 
tralize the other or else that they will alternate and 
diminish in intensity without giving satisfaction leading 
to the attainment of an end or producing any desirable 
development of personality. 

The child imitates the actions of those surrounding 
him in a purely playful way, being satisfied with the 
performance of the activity without reference to any 
ends that may be gained by it. The countless imita- 
tions of sounds and gestures by children are of this 
type. In the case of imitation of the activities of older 
people, such as writing, sewing, cooking, keeping house, 
and in later stages, in the activities of making collec- 
tions and constructing objects as other people do, the 



INTEREST 43 

fact of acting in harmony with other people or being 
equal to or superior to them contributes to the pleasure 
of the activity. In still later stages of development, 
imitating other people in the sense of following the 
fashion, loses most of its playful character, the end 
gained becoming the most prominent thing. 

In the child's first imitative acts of talking, counting 
and constructing, he is interested chiefly in the per- 
formance of the act as a play, but soon he desires to 
obtain the end that may be gained by means of talking, 
writing, counting and constructing. He then observes 
closely how those acts are performed by others and re- 
peats them, not because of the pleasure of the activity, 
but in order that he may secure the end to which they 
are the means. The tendency to imitate is then domi- 
nated by the work interest of results to be secured, and 
the child is learning the great lesson of life that in or- 
der to secure ends the means appropriate to the secur- 
ing of those ends must be used. This is the essential 
characteristic of all work activity. If he attains great 
facility in the use of means for the attainment of ends 
he may enjoy the process of gaining ends as much or 
more than the ends themselves. There is therefore often 
a later stage of development similar to the early undif- 
ferentiated stage, in which activities are performed un- 
der the stimulus of both work and play interest. 

Again, the activity of imitation may itself become an 
end as in the case of one who makes a business of 
mimicry. The same is true of many other forms of activ- 
ity, such as those of athletes and acrobats. What was 
at one time a form of playful activity has become not 
merely a means to an end, but is to a considerable ex- 
tent an end in itself, the aim being to secure the highest 



44 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

degree of skill possible. The same is true of intellectual 
and emotional activities, such as are manifested in curi- 
osity and in the search after truth and in the aesthetic in- 
stinct and the desire to enjoy and produce the beautiful. 

All the early activities, especially those of the playful 
kind, are to a large extent varied and disconnected, the 
same simple sound or motion being repeated over and 
over. In work activity of even the simplest forms 
there is at least a short series of acts leading to the se- 
curing of the end. In play activity the series may be 
very short indeed, consisting perhaps of nothing more 
than moving the hand and getting as a result a tactile 
or auditory sensation. As work and play interest de- 
velop, activities are arranged in a series to a greater 
and greater extent. Movements are no longer pleasur- 
able in themselves except when made in a rhythmical 
way, or when two or more forms alternate and lead to 
some kind of climax. Since in work activity the differ- 
ent acts must occur in a certain order and be per- 
formed in a definite way in order that the end may be 
secured, both work and play interests therefore depend 
not upon any one portion of the series, but upon the re- 
lation of part to part and to the result as a whole. 

The natural tendencies of the child acting under the 
stimulus of either work or play interest will not neces- 
sarily produce the kind of arrangement of activities 
most conducive to success and satisfaction. The child 
has to learn how to arrange the series of activities in 
order to get the end or get the most satisfaction out of 
the play. In other words he needs suggestions or direc- 
tions to help him in learning to play as well as in learn- 
ing to work. These suggestions may be supplied most 
easily by furnishing examples for imitation, but as child- 



INTEREST 45 

ren grow older, may be given to a greater extent by- 
means of words. Games, with definite rules, have been 
invented because they organize natural activities into 
a series that is more interesting than any undirected or 
unorganized form of activity. 

With increase in age, interest prompts less to sen- 
sory motor activity and more to representative and 
conceptual activity. With the development of imagina- 
tion and thought, it is also possible to unify a much 
greater variety of activities and to connect the activities 
not only of one moment with those of the next moment, 
but also those of the day and the year with those of 
other days and years. The child's interests are transi- 
tory and variable, but as he becomes older, these varied 
interests are more and more connected with each other 
in both his work and play, under the dominance of some 
more general and inclusive interest which is satisfied 
by this more complex grouping of activities. 

So far as no educative influence is consciously 
brought to bear upon the child, the development of his 
interest will be determined by the development of his 
native tendencies and by the material and social en- 
vironment in which he lives. The educator who at- 
tempts to direct the development of interest must take 
into account those two factors and by bringing to the 
child, in an indirect way, any intellectual environment 
that he chooses, strengthen desirable interests already 
existing and develop new lines of interest. Definite 
tasks may also be assigned and motives for doing them 
aroused so that he will perform them intelligently and 
effectively, but there is little reason for requiring the 
blind following of directions. In order that the know- 
ledge gained by the child shall be organized in an effec- 



46 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

tive way it is necessary that any given kind of interest 
shall be dominant for a sufficient period of time to 
organize more or less permanently a considerable body 
of knowledge and experience. 

In order that development shall not be narrow and 
that a large number of ideas and activities shall be ac- 
quired and organized it is necessary that a variety of 
interests shall be concerned in organizing them, but 
that there may be harmony in the development it is 
necessary that there shall be broad inclusive interests 
harmonizing the more special lines of activity. 

The theory of culture epochs affirms that the ma- 
terial best suited to arouse interest at each age may be 
determined by studying the development of the race 
and finding what activities were prominent in the suc- 
cessive stages of development, and what kind of litera- 
ture was produced in each stage, and then using these 
forms of activity and literature in the same order in 
educating the child. This theory supposes that there is 
a close correspondence between the mental develop- 
ment of the race and the mental development of an 
individual and that the stages of development of the 
race are better known than are those of the child. We 
have shown in a previous volume, " Genetic Psy- 
chology," that there is little correspondence in the 
physical development of the individual after birth and 
that of the race and that there is still less reason for 
believing that there is any close correspondence in the 
mental development of the individual and the race. 
We have also shown that environment becomes a more 
and more important factor as development becomes more 
intellectual and that there is very little correspondence 
between the physical, social and psychical environment 



INTEREST 47 

of the child of to-day and the adult in past ages. 
Almost the only chance for correspondence is in the 
order in which the instinctive tendencies develop. We 
know that the inner factors in individual and race 
development cannot .show a very close correspondence 
when even such an important instinct as that of sex 
does not appear in the individual to any considerable 
degree until he approaches maturity, although it must 
have been prominent in even the earliest stages of the 
development of the race. 

Another and better basis for determining the kind 
of culture material to be used at different stages of 
development is suggested by modern studies of children 
in which observations and experiments are made to 
determine what interests are likely to be dominant at 
each stage of development, and then materials may be 
presented that will give opportunity for satisfying those 
interests. 

Although the theory of culture epochs cannot be ac- 
cepted, yet it has proven of considerable value, both to 
child-study and to education. There is some similarity 
necessarily existing in all development from a simple to 
a more complex state and in some instances the stages 
of development in the race are more easily seen than 
they are in the child. Having been seen in the race 
they suggest observations to be made upon children. 
Thus the concreteness of the ideas of primitive people is 
closely paralleled in the case of the child. Again, on 
the educational side the theory has been of great value 
because it has suggested kinds of activities and ideas to 
present to the child that are different from those ac- 
tually surrounding him and different from any that 
may be found at the present time. 



48 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

The mere fact that they are different makes them 
valuable as a means of arousing new and varied inter- 
est. Besides this they are valuable because they direct 
the child's attention to fundamental human activities 
and to significant aspects of nature's forces to which his 
attention is not called by his present material and social 
surroundings. 

A study of the life of early man and an imitation of 
his activities in a simpler environment have therefore a 
value, not only because of their new and varied char- 
acter, but also because they call forth reactions that are 
fundamental in their character. As a means of general 
education such culture materials are of great value. 
They should not, however, be the exclusive materials 
used. It is necessary for the general development of 
the child and also in fitting him for a special sphere in 
life that he shall be familiar with the present environ- 
ment and the modern modes of reacting to it. 

The study of the life of early man and the imitation 
of his activities perform the same service for the young 
child that the study of history does for an older child. 
Its value is chiefly cultural and only incidentally prac- 
tical. The study of the present environment and ac- 
tivities of men may sometimes be made equally cultural 
and far more practical. One who has engaged in a 
variety of occupations and made himself familiar with 
others, may have gained cultural appreciation of the 
work and achievements of men of his own time that is 
equal in kind and amount to the culture obtained from 
the study of the language, history and literature of the 
people of other times. 

The test of the value of any study is not however to 
be found either in racial history, or in general truths 



INTEREST 49 

about children of a certain age, but in the past history 
and the present interest of the individual child. The 
scientific agriculturist now realizes that no matter how 
much nutritive material of the kind required by corn 
or potatoes, or whatever he wishes to raise, there may 
be in the soil, the plants will not thrive unless the 
nutritive material is soluble and in a condition to be 
assimilated by the plant. In a similar way the scientific 
educator is beginning to realize that however rich in 
the elements of culture a subject or course of study may 
be, the individual will thrive mentally in taking it, 
only in proportion as he is interested. Culture material 
that is rich and nutritious to an adult may be like 
sand and gravel to the child. The problem for the edu- 
cator, like that for the nurse, is not to find what is rich 
in food value but to supply a variety of material in a 
form that the child will take and assimilate. The best 
test of the educative value of what is presented is the 
degree of interest excited, as indicated by vigorous, con- 
tinued activity. 

Although the educator needs to provide material 
suited to arouse various interests he should not try 
merely to excite empirical interest by new material, but 
should seek to arouse the more permanent relational 
interest that is based on what is already known. This 
does not mean that attention shall be turned toward 
the familiar with the view of making it an object of 
study. There is nothing more difficult and uninteresting 
to a child than to tiy to study and describe familiar ob- 
jects and processes. To arouse interest something that 
calls for the use of what is familiar must be presented. 
Teachers have often made the mistake of trying to have 
children consciously formulate the familiar instead of 



50 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

giving them opportunity to explain or do something new 
by means of something that is already known. The fa- 
miliar may not have been clearly defined in conscious- 
ness until there was occasion for its conscious use. 
Interest in any line may therefore be developed by giv- 
ing occasion to use knowledge and skill as fast as it is 
acquired and thus to add to the store of knowledge and 
to the possibilities of interest. 

EXERCISES 

1. How far is your liking for your place of residence de- 
termined by your interests ? Could you radically change its 
agreeableness or disagreeableness by a change in your inter- 
ests? 

2. Give an example of temporary and one of permanent 
interest. Illustrate how interest ceases for the time when the 
ideas concerned are satisfactorily related. 

3. Give examples of children who were not interested in 
school work, but were found to be much interested in some- 
thing else. 

4. Illustrate how interest directs, unifies and gives meaning 
to acts by describing how some interest controlled some of 
your acts during a long period. 

5. Illustrate the relation of interest to one or more in- 
stincts. Show how interest in man is dependent upon in- 
stinctive interests of both a higher and lower kind. 

6. A girl who was putting clothes in a wringer varied the 
amount put in at a time so that the boy turning it was some- 
times stopped and sometimes moved with a jerk. Was her 
action dominated by work or play interest ? Give another il- 
lustration of the dominance of one of these interests. 

7. Name some occupation that to you involves both work 
and play interest. Should a teacher have a play interest in her 
work ? 

8. Give examples of interest in a subject aroused (a) by 



INTEREST 51 

liking for the teacher, (b) by the wish for good marks, (c) by- 
discovering the relation of the subject to something already- 
interesting. 

9. Do those who study literature in school usually continue 
to be interested in it after school days ? Is the interest in 
drawing in school usually natural or artificial ? How do you 
judge of its naturalness ? What study or interest has had most 
influence on your life ? How did it arise ? 

10. What would be the effect of doing away with all de- 
grees and marks ? Did the Greeks, when at their best, give 
marks and degrees ? If occupational and natural cultural in- 
terests only were appealed to would students in colleges and 
high schools study ? Would grammar school pupils ? 

11. Give the results of your experience with games in con- 
nection with school subjects, also of your experience in direct- 
ing games and plays. 

12. Discuss the relative value of the study and practice by 
children of primitive and present day industries. 



PAET II 
STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT 



CHAPTER III 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION 

Need for Distinguishing Stages. In human beings 
processes of development are clearly present for a 
quarter of a century. The differences between the child 
of a day and a man of twenty-five years are very great. 
If the processes of development were absolutely uni- 
form, the condition and needs of an individual at any 
age between the two named could be computed mathe- 
matically and there would be less occasion for discussing 
stages of development. Superficial observation, however, 
shows that there are times at which development is more 
rapid than at others. More careful scientific studies 
prove that this is true to a much greater extent than 
had been suspected. It may now be safely asserted that 
variability in the rate of development is common and 
uniformity rare. Just as nearly aU streams move now 
rapidly and now slowly, so do the developmental proces- 
ses as the individual is raised to higher stages of organ- 
ization. 

Although changes are continuous, retardation and 
acceleration are to be noted in all lines. These changes 
in rate of development, although influenced by external 
conditions, are determined to a considerable extent by 
inner tendencies. No comprehensive knowledge of the 
genesis of mind and character can be obtained without 
studying these variations, and it is highly desirable that 
the stages should be distinguished. It is important that 
they should be known, because there is good reason for 



56 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

believing that whenever development is proceeding 
rapidly, changes in the direction of that development 
may be most easily produced by means of external in- 
fluences. There is also reason for believing that if at the 
time a certain kind of development usually takes place 
conditions are unfavorable or opposed to such develop- 
ment, either permanent arrest of development in that 
line is likely to result or the suppressed tendency may 
appear at a later stage and produce characteristics that 
are out of harmony with those that are then present. 

The sciences of biology, physiology and psychology 
all support the view that each stage of development is 
preparatory to those that are to follow and that any dis- 
turbance of development at any period is likely to affect 
the final result. This is most strikingly shown in bi- 
ology, as for example in the case of insects where injury 
or unfavorable conditions during the larval stage result 
in an imperfect form of insect. To be a perfect but- 
terfly it is necessary to first be a perfect caterpillar, and 
to be an ideal man the child characteristics must first be 
well developed. 

From the standpoint of the educator it is especially 
important, therefore, that the stages of development 
should be known. It is not sufficient that he shall 
know what the child is, and what the man ought to be, 
but he should know the general tendency of develop- 
ment in children of a given age, in order that he may 
intelligently make the conditions favorable and direct 
each child's activities in accordance with all the de- 
sirable tendencies that are prominent at the time. 

Difficulties of Distinguishing the Stages. Any one 
who has attempted to trace carefully the growth and 
development of a single plant, knows that the diffi- 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 57 

culties of distinguishing and describing the changes as 
they take place are considerable. He cannot see the 
plant grow, but if he looks at proper intervals, he can 
readily perceive that it has changed. Although the kind 
and rate of change vary, it is difficult to describe and 
definitely specify the various stages. These difficulties are 
greatly increased when human beings are studied. This 
is partly because of the fact that the changes continue 
through such a long period of time. Where a fraction 
of a year might suffice for determining the chief stages 
of development in a bean, a score of years would be re- 
quired in the case of a human being. 

The difficulties are also greater in the case of man 
than in that of plants because he is a much more com- 
plex being. The development of mind is also much more 
subject to outer influences than is the development of 
plants. Although the rate of development of plants 
is greatly influenced by surroundings, their form is 
everywhere nearly the same for each individual of a 
species, while in the case of human minds, the general 
type is largely determined by human influences. It is 
therefore always difficult to tell whether the retardations 
and accelerations of development in any individual are 
due to outer influences or to inner tendencies and equally 
difficult to tell to what extent the peculiar tyipes of indi- 
vidual character are the result of outer influences. 

It is necessary to distinguish to some extent between 
inner laws of development and the influence of outer 
conditions in order to mark out stages of development 
that will prove true for more than one kind of environ- 
ment. This cannot easily be done, and doubtless the de- 
scriptions in the following chapters best fit the children 
of America. 



58 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

Another difficulty that makes the task almost impos- 
sible of complete solution is the fact that the accelera- 
tions and retardations in different lines do not coincide. 
It is difficult to clearly demonstrate this in mental de- 
velopment, because accurate measurements of mental 
powers are as yet impossible, yet it is very evident to 
the interested observer of children. 

In physical development, growth, as proved by many 
careful measurements, is far from uniform. The period 
of most rapid growth in height is a period of slow 
growth in thickness of body and limb ; the period of 
rapid growth of limbs is not the same as that for the 
body, nor do the heart, lungs, and brain grow at the 
same rate at the same time. 

To describe the stages of development in one line 
such as physical growth, language or memory, difficult 
as it is, presents a far less complex problem than the 
attempt to indicate the most striking stages of develop- 
ment of the child as a whole. The ages at which devel- 
opment in these various lines begins and culminates 
are so different that a division that shows clearly the 
development in one line obscures that in another. It is 
necessary therefore to decide which kind of development 
is most important and most closely correlated with others. 

Basis of Classification. In seeking a basis for dis- 
tinguishing the stages of mental development in human 
beings, it will be best to choose the characteristics that 
most clearly and fundamentally distinguish man men- 
tally from the lower animals. These are to be found in 
his social tendencies and his susceptibility to social in- 
fluences. A dog or other animal brought up without 
association with others of its kind, can scarcely be dis- 
tinguished from other animals of its species except by 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 59 

an expert in animal behavior. A human being on the 
contrary, brought to the age of maturity without human 
associations, would at once attract the attention of even 
the most casual observer. A man becomes a human 
being mentally, chiefly through association with other 
human beings, rather than by reaction to things only. 
Without human association a child would be more ani- 
mal than human in his characteristics. 

The most fruitful basis, therefore, for distinguishing 
the different stages of human development for psycholog- 
ical and educational purposes is the presence and pro- 
minence of the more important social impulses and the 
social influences acting at different periods. It will be 
found also that changes in social sensitiveness are to a 
considerable extent correlated with changes in other 
lines of mental development and with changes in outer 
influences. The change at six for example is due largely 
to the new influences of school life and other compan- 
ionship outside of the home, while that in the teens is due 
largely to internal processes of development. 

The Stages Distinguished and Characterized. The 
first stage, which ends near the close of the first year, 
may be described as the pre-social stage, during which 
the child is influenced by things and persons, as are 
animals, in an almost wholly objective way, and only 
slightly or not at all by the thoughts and feelings of the 
persons around him. ' 

The second stage, which closes at about three 
years of age, may be designated as the imitative and 
socializing stage. During this period the child becomes 
more and more susceptible to mental influences and his 
mental states are determined to a considerable extent 
by the mental states of those around him. 



60 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

The third stage, which culminates at about six years 
of age, may be designated as the individualizing stage, 
during which the conscious personality that has been 
developed during the previous period becomes more 
distinctly individual and asserts itself, instead of merely 
assimilating the characteristics of others. 

The fourth stage, ending at about twelve years of age, 
may be described as the period of competitive socializa- 
tion. It is a period when a child is introduced to a 
wider social environment and in which the impulses to 
excel in competition are prominent and are brought out 
in association with others of the same age. 

The fifth stage, culminating at about eighteen years 
of age, may be called the pubertal or transitional 
period. During this time the youth and maiden become 
more susceptible to many social influences that formerly 
affected them not at all, and many new and important 
interests develop that are characteristic of the sex and 
age. 

The sixth period, ending at twenty-four years of age, 
may be designated as the stage of later adolescence, 
during which the individual is ushered into the larger 
world of thought and action and becomes prepared to take 
his part in the various activities of the race as a fully 
developed man or woman. 

Cautions to be Observed. It must not be supposed 
that what characterizes one of these periods is entirely 
absent in the others, but merely that it is more likely 
to be a prominent and more or less dominating factor 
during the stage of development to which its name is 
given. Neither must it be supposed that the change 
from one stage to another occurs at exactly the time in- 
dicated. The duration of the different stages is subject 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 61 

to great variations in different races, in different social 
conditions and still more in different individuals. Wlien 
we know that some children begin their period of rapid 
growth at puberty, several years earlier than other child- 
ren, it would be strange if we did not find greater 
differences in the age at which the various mental char- 
acteristics become prominent. It is believed that the 
order of development is less subject to variation, yet 
owing to the fact that some phases of development may 
be suppressed, some passed through very quickly and 
others prolonged, there may in individual cases seem to 
be variations in the order of development. 

It is probably true, also, that phases of development 
that have been passed, may again, under certain condi- 
tions, become prominent at a time when other charac- 
teristics usually dominate. Only very marked varia- 
tions from the degree and order of development at any 
age should, therefore, be regarded as abnormal. 

While there is a constant gradual development in 
all lines there are accelerations and retardations in rate 
and many shiftings of outer and inner factors of de- 
velopment, so that those that dominate for awhile and 
give a general trend to the whole process of develop- 
ment, are at a later stage subordinated to other factors. 

Although the kind and rate of development in dif- 
ferent lines and at different stages do not correspond, 
yet they are related to each other in such a way that 
modifications in one line or at one age may produce 
marked effects in other lines and at other ages. This 
makes it difficult not only to determine what the normal 
stages of development are, but to discover the causes 
of peculiarities, or seeming abnormalities that are found 
at any time in individual children. 



62 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

There are also various ways in which lack of stimulus 
or activity in one line may be compensated for. For 
example, a child who has no companions may get similar 
stimuli from dolls, flowers or animals, or from reading, 
and he who cannot engage in certain forms of physical 
exercise may do so in imagination and get some of the 
same mental and moral effects. 

Again, contrasting characteristics are really always 
closely related, hence boldness may be easily changed 
to timidity, suggestibility to contrariness, laziness 
to industry, etc. In this way the general direction of 
development of two children who are really in the 
same stage, may appear to be entirely different. 

The science of genetic psychology will probably 
n^ver become so exact that it will be possible to tell 
just exactly what a child with given native tendencies 
and surroundings will be at any given age, or just how 
he will be affected by any influence that may be brought 
to bear upon him. Yet at the present time it is possible 
to describe the inner and outer factors concerned and 
indicate what characteristics are likely to be prominent 
at any given age, with sufficient definiteness to help 
one in wisely dealing with children individually and in 
groups. Those who are looking for rules to be mechani- 
cally applied according to the age of children, will be 
disappointed with child-study both now and in the 
future, but those who are already studying children in- 
dividually in the light of common sense and their own 
experience with them, may be greatly aided by the 
broader truths that are being formulated by scientists. 

The science of meteorology is well advanced, but no 
one can predict what the weather will be in a given 
place, on a certain date months ahead. Nothing is more 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 63 

sure than the seasons, nothing more variable than the 
days. The science of child development, however well 
advanced it may become, can never take the place of 
individual study. However certain we may become as 
to the inner principles of development and the gen- 
eral effects of outer influences and as to the stages of 
development that children pass through, we can never 
predict far in advance what an individual child will be 
and how he will be affected by a certain influence, yet 
we may prepare for certain conduct at certain ages, 
just as we prepare for the different seasons. 

EXERCISES 

1. Illustrate from the growth of some plant that there are 
stages in its development and that one kind of development 
prepares for another. 

2. Compare two children strongly contrasted in ability 
and special characteristics, and give your reasons for think- 
ing the differences due chiefly to natural tendencies or to 
surroundings and training. 

3. Prove that social surroundings and influences are more 
important than physical in developing the mind and char- 
acter of human beings. 

4. Compare the author's classification of the stages of 
development with any other that has been proposed, to see 
how they differ and agree. 

5. It will be a good exercise to look over a number of lan- 
guage papers or listen to the reading of definitions given by 
children of different ages, and try to judge the age of the 
children. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE PRE-SOCIAL PERIOD 

Characteristics. This is a period of very rapid phy- 
sical and mental development, but social influences 
play little part in this development compared with their 
importance in later periods. The child, like aU the 
higher animals, starts with many reflex and instinctive 
tendencies. He has also many that do not appear for 
some time, and he has a wider range of curiosity and 
more tendency to imitation than any of the animals. 
He responds to the stimulation of objects and of what 
persons do, in much the same way as animals, but he is 
only slightly more affected by mental stimuli than they 
are. 

Changes in the expression of a person's face may be 
very interesting and even amusing to him, entirely re- 
gardless of the mental state of the person observed. 
As to the tones of voice, the case is somewhat different, 
the child seeming to be instinctively sensitive to them, 
as are the more intelligent animals, such as the dog. 
Both seem to be influenced by the mental states asso- 
ciated with the various tones of the voice, yet this is 
not true to so great an extent with animals as it is 
with children. Infants of only a few months may ap- 
pear to be saddened or enlivened by the appropriate 
tones of voice and they often respond by similar tones. 

Later, they clearly respond to the visual stimulus of 
a smile by a similar facial expression. This, however, 
is probably the result of experience rather than of an 



THE PRE-SOCIAL PERIOD 65 

instinctive tendency, the smile being associated with 
pleasing tones of voice, petting, and other enjoyable 
experiences that previously had caused him to smile. 
Such expressions of mental states call forth in the child 
some of the same facial movements and help to arouse 
corresponding mental states in his mind. He thus 
later becomes capable of being affected more directly 
by the mental states of others. 

The conscious life of those around him is not, how- 
ever, the dominant influence in the child's development 
during the first year. The chief influences are sensory 
stimulations given by his bodily states, by movements, 
by things, and by persons. His mental life develops 
primarily and chiefly by receiving and reacting to such 
stimulations. To his physical environment the child is 
keenly alive, but to his psychical environment only 
slightly so. It is the only period of his life in which 
the minds of others do not have a greater influence on 
him than material things. 

Changes That Take Place During This Period. The 
child nearly trebles his size during this period, a rate of 
growth far more rapid than in any subsequent period. 
This is typical of the rate of his development in all lines. 
From a condition in which he has little or no mental 
life, he changes into a creature that probably surpasses 
the highest animals in some kinds of intelligence. From 
a condition in which he makes a few simple reflex and 
instinctive movements that are useful, and a great many 
random movements that do not get him any where or 
change anything around him, he gains a power of con- 
trol of hands and voice which makes him superior to any 
other animal, in certain forms of motor activity. He is 
now also able to move himself around and manipulate 



66 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

objects much as he wishes. He knows individually a 
large number of objects and a number of persons, and 
is able to react in an appropriate way to each. From 
being one of the most helpless and stupid of beings he 
has become one of the most psychically active and in- 
telligent of animals, with some human characteristics 
becoming prominent. 

Changes except in size are not very marked during 
the first weeks, but soon it is evident that the child is 
getting control of the head and eyes so he can look at 
things and not merely be stimulated by those that come 
before him. At about the end of the first quarter year 
he can sit up and is perhaps beginning to direct his 
hands in grasping things. He gains rapidly in this and 
other ways and soon is successfully locating sight, sound 
and tactile stimuli. He acquires some mode or modes 
of locomotion during the third quarter, such as crawling, 
creeping, hitching, rolling, etc., and near the close of 
the year he often begins to walk upright, either alone 
or by holding to something. 

The most significant change is that his movements, 
from being simple and largely incobrdinated and use- 
less, have become complex and to a considerable extent 
coordinated and effective. This means that the change 
is chiefly one of organization of the simpler parts con- 
cerned in the early reflex and instinctive movements, so 
that they act in related and harmonious ways in secur- 
ing ends. 

Development of one part prepares for the develop- 
ment of another and the combined use of the two. Con- 
trol of the head and eye sensations and movements are 
correlated with hand sensations and movements, other- 
wise it would be impossible to grasp an object that is 



THE PRE-SOCIAL PERIOD 67 

seen. The muscles of the trunk must respond to equi- 
librium sensations when the child is sitting up and reach- 
ing for objects or he will fall over. In moving toward 
and grasping objects the muscles of head, eyes, trunk 
and limbs must all act in a coordinated way or the child 
will fail in the attempt. 

For every movement involved in such an act there were 
at first reflex or instinctive tendencies, but now they 
have been organized into a harmoniously coordinating 
system, hence the child is no longer a helpless wriggler 
as he was during the first few weeks. 

This great change toward muscular coordination is 
correlated with similar changes in mental coordination. 
The child's sensory and other mental states are no longer 
isolated, but are associated and organized so that con- 
sciousness is not a meaningless chaos, but a related whole 
to which every sensation means something. 

As the movements take place in a definite combination 
and sequence the sensations occur in certain combina- 
tions and in a definite order. This in time brings order 
out of the mental chaos and there is anticipation of 
sensations to be experienced. The child now not only 
finds sensations of sound, color, etc. familiar, but knows 
that they mean certain objects or experiences and he is 
able to control his own movements in such a way as to 
get suggested experiences that are desirable and avoid 
those that are unpleasant. 

In the case of instinctive movements of emotional 
expression such as crying, there is at first a rather com- 
plex combination of sensations and movements, which 
give rise to an unspecialized feeling of discomfort. After 
a few months the nature of the sounds and movements 
indicates to a skilled observer whether the cry is due to 



68 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

hunger, pain, anger, fright, etc. Such specialization of 
movements probably helps to produce the corresponding 
differentiation into more specific mental states which 
becomes very prominent before the close of the first year. 
Many mental states such as curiosity and surprise de- 
velop also before the close of this period. At or before 
the close of the year the child has imitated many signs 
of emotional expression and is beginning to imitate new 
movements and sounds, hence is rapidly gaining the 
more human characteristics. 

Treatment during the Period. In this period of 
rapid growth and great physiological changes the most 
important consideration is health. This is greatly em- 
phasized by statistics which show that about eleven per 
cent of children die during this period, whereas but 
two and one-half per cent die in the second period and 
less than one per cent in the third year, while in the 
sixth year the death rate is little more than one-third 
of one per cent and in the twelfth, but one-sixth of one 
per cent. Physical welfare should therefore be the chief 
care during the first year. It is during this period that 
the disastrous results of the belief that children are just 
like adults, only smaller and weaker, have been most 
marked. The child who is treated as regards food, sleep 
and medicine as if he were like an adult must be excep- 
tionally strong if he survives. It has been demonstrated 
that proper food, with some instructions to mothers, 
may decrease the death rate among infants in our cities 
one-half. The questions of proper clothing, air and 
exercise without too much fatiguing attention and stim- 
ulation, rank second only in importance to food in pre- 
serving the health of infants, and are perhaps even more 
important in relation to future mental development. 



THE PRE-SOCIAL PERIOD 69 

The child's physiological processes may be regulated 
by favorable surroundings, systematic feeding, rest and 
sleep, while the variety, number and order of objective 
stimulations may in part be determined for him. In 
many cases the infant has too many strong and 
rapidly changing stimuli forced upon him, especially 
by the actions of persons. These fatigue him, make him 
nervous and over excitable and give him little time to 
discover the real qualities of objects. The child should 
have some stimulation through being cuddled and 
played with by persons every day, but only a limited 
amount. He should also have opportunity to exercise 
his senses on objects of all colors and shapes, and of 
various auditory and tactile possibilities. 

As soon as he can move his hands he should not be 
amused wholly by what others do, but rather by what 
he can do, to objects and with them. Others may do 
things that lead the child to discover new possibilities 
in objects but they should not long at a time manipu- 
late objects for his amusement. By so doing they inter- 
fere with his own educative play activity and hinder his 
finding out the real qualities of objects and his own 
powers in relation to them. As has elsewhere been in- 
dicated, the power of varied manipulation of objects for 
different purposes, is what gives the child an advantage 
over any animal in the formation of free ideas. His 
mental development is therefore best favored by allow- 
ing him, during this period, plenty of opportunity for 
such manipulation. Suggestions as to ends to be gained 
are not needed in this stage as they are at a later 
period. The principle of novelty should be made much 
of at this time. None of the child's playthings should 
be with him all of the time, but those not in use should 



70 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

be placed out of his sight for awhile, as soon as he loses 
interest in them, then restored to him again when they 
will arouse his interest anew. 

Health is favored and the basis of a sound mental 
life is provided by establishing a good set of habits, not 
only as regards regularity in eating and sleeping, play- 
ing and resting, but as regards the way in which he shall 
respond to whatever is being done for or with him. It 
is well known that an intelligent cat or dog can be 
trained to behave himself and make his wants known so 
that he wiU not be a disagreeable nuisance as untrained 
or badly trained animals so often are. In a similar way 
and by similar methods a child may be so trained that 
he will be a joy to himself and others, or he may become 
the fretful, irritable, irritating tyrant of the household. 

The mother, like the trainer of animals, should do 
things in the same way every time, that there may be 
the same sensory motor signs as a condition or signal 
for each type of reaction, when the child is being fed, 
dressed, or put to sleep, and thus he wiU readily form 
habits of having things done to him and of doing the 
right thing at the right time without any fuss. 

More complex habits that are really elementary acts 
of politeness, such as waiting quietly for food or to be taken 
up, may also be formed if care is used. If the expression 
" in a minute " is employed and is at first followed very 
quickly by food or attention, a beginning is made and 
the time of waiting may gradually be prolonged. If, 
however, the interval is too long at first, crying may 
ensue and the expression become a signal that starts the 
child to crying for food or attention instead of waiting 
quietly for it. The child may also be taught to give up 
things quietly and to allow himself to be taken where one 



THE PRE-SOCIAL PERIOD 71 

wishes, or he may learn to make a scene in all such cases. 
He is not consciously either good or bad during this pe- 
riod any more than are animals, but he is forming habits 
that will have important effects upon the conscious self 
that develops during the next period and that will be 
likely to have some influence upon his ultimate character. 
The child may thus be greatly influenced by the people 
around him during this period, in so far as what they 
do leads him to form certain habits, although he is at 
this time influenced scarcely at all by their mental states 
as such. 

EXERCISES 

1. Report examples of infants responding to tones of voice. 
How young a child have you known to be influenced by any 
other sign of a mental state in another ? 

2. Describe some of the earlier attempts at voluntary mo- 
tion by infants, noting the sense and motor organs involved. 

3. Compare as to methods used, instances of training an 
infant and a cat or dog to do certain things. 

4. Why should an infant not be used as a plaything by older 
people to any considerable extent ? Should adults do much to 
amuse infants ? Why ? 

5. How would you teach an infant to go to sleep at certain 
times ? 



CHAPTER V 

IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 

Conditions and General Characteristics. Having 
made himself familiar with all kinds of sensations and 
many of the objects of his environment, the child is 
now ready to get new experiences from the more vari- 
able things in his environment, especially from persons. 
Previous to this they have been interesting to him as 
means of getting his physiological needs satisfied and 
as variable and not understood playthings. Objects are 
inert and he soon learns something of their characteris- 
tics and what he can do with them, while persons are 
active, variable and unmanageable, and therefore they 
continually and increasingly interest him. 

People, while playing with the child and also when 
working in his presence, often produce most interesting 
and startling changes in the relations of things. Such 
amusement, however, lacks the feeling of muscular ac- 
tivity and power that is felt when the child himself 
manipulates objects. It is not strange, therefore, that, 
when he finds that he can make the same interesting 
changes that others make in the relation of objects and 
at the same time get agreeable feelings of active power, 
as he himself makes the movements, he should spend 
so much time in doing what he perceives others do, in- 
stead of merely jerking things aroimd or watching what 
others do. 

Some of his imitations, as for instance coughing and 
crying, are reflex or instinctive in the special sense that 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 73 

there is an apparatus already organized to respond when 
such sounds are heard, just as there is a crouching ap- 
paratus in a chicken that responds to the danger call of 
the hen. This is true also of emotional expressions, all 
of which the child imitates more or less before the end 
of the preceding period. 

It is in this period that more complex and instinctive 
imitations are made and with greater accuracy. Tones 
of voice, laughing and crying, frowning and many other 
expressions of the face are imitated. This tendency was 
strikingly shown in one little girl of about a year and a 
haK. Her mother was undergoing treatment that gave 
her considerable pain and a person standing behind her 
watching the little girl's face as she stood facing her 
mother, could see the reflection of the mother's expres- 
sion in the child's face almost as clearly as in a mirror. 
In this kind of imitation of instinctive sounds and 
movements, the child is only a little more ready than 
animals, while in the tendency to imitate new move- 
ments he differs greatly from them. They have little or 
no tendency of that kind while he has it to a marked 
extent. 

In the case of new sounds and movements there is a 
less definite organization to serve as a basis for the early 
spontaneous, and the later more voluntary imitations. 
The perceptive organs are so related, however, to the 
motor organs, that there is more tendency, when at- 
tention is centered upon the perception of a sound or 
movement, to act so as to reproduce that sound or ges- 
ture than to make any other movements. For example, 
attention to a sound is more likely to call the vocal or- 
gans into action, while attention to a gesture is more 
likely to produce movement of the hand than of any 



74 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

other part of the body. The exact way in which vocal 
organs or hand must move in order to reproduce what 
has been perceived must, however, be learned. This 
sensory motor relation, together with the instinctive and 
acquired tendency to observe persons and their actions 
and respond in some way to them, constitutes the kind 
of imitative instinct which is so much more prominent 
in man than in animals. It is chiefly this instinct, asso- 
ciated with those of play and curiosity, that in these 
two years transforms the child into a creature with the 
consciousness of a human being. 

The child that during this period is deprived of 
family association, though well cared for in an institu- 
tion, is very imperfectly developed because of the lack 
of personal contact with individuals in the intimate re- 
lations of the home. 

In the ordinary home the child, during these two 
years, learns a language, becomes a member of the little 
family society and establishes various social relations 
with its members and with some persons outside. 

The importance of what is learned in the ordinary 
home is suggested by the following notes taken from 
Miss Munro's account of a child taken from an institu- 
tion at three years of age. She could talk very little 
but could understand a number of words. The attend- 
ant had no time to talk with her, but only to tell her 
what to do. She had no idea of family relations, 
" mamma" meaning any of the nurses. Little had hap- 
pened to her except to be fed, washed and dressed, and 
she had no idea of the individual ownership of anything, 
not even of clothes. The most she knew was how to care 
for babies, learned by seeing and imitating the nurses. 
She had no idea of a doll, dog, cat, or pictures and did 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 75 

not know she could not walk on water. She knew no- 
thing of colors and could not learn to discriminate and 
match them for a long time. She used the sense of touch 
a great deal. She distinguished very imperfecta between 
imaginings and real experiences, probably because of in- 
sufficient perceptive experiences. She was a bright child 
but knew so little that the family concluded that children 
in a home must learn more in the first three years 
than in any other period of the same length. This is 
therefore preeminently the period in which the mould- 
ing influences of the home have most complete sway. 

Imitation and Social Consciousness. Imitation is 
the most dominant tendency during this period, directing 
as it does to a considerable extent the child's curiosity 
and play. A large part of what he does is suggested by 
the actions of others. With his interest in persons, he 
naturally becomes interested, not simply in novel acts 
and new relations of things, but in the feeling that may 
be experienced in doing things. If he lifts a weight 
after seeing some one else lift one with expressions of 
effort, he learns the feeling that accompanies the act of 
lifting and forms an idea of the sensations of others when 
he sees them perform acts that he has imitated. 

In the case of familiar acts, he may get almost as 
much pleasure from seeing others do them as from his 
own performance, but an act that he has never per- 
formed gives him a sense of lacking something, until he 
too can do it and know how it feels. The tendency to 
imitate is so" strong that a child may repeat several 
times what some one else is doing, though the result is 
to him painful ; e. g., eat sauce that is hot and to him 
disagreeable. 
. I After observing and imitating many acts, the child, 



76 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

when he sees a person doing anything, thinks not so 
much of the objective movements made, as the sensa- 
tions of movement and the feelings and ideas that go 
with them. The signs of emotional expression are 
earliest imitated and the corresponding feelings experi- 
enced in some degree, so that emotional states in others 
are perceived at an early period. The child begins to 
share the condition of older people who find it almost 
impossible to observe the movements of a person's face, 
e. g., a smile or other sign of emotion, in a purely ob- 
jective manner as they would the movements of a ma- 
chine. 

When a child, in observing persons, perceives their 
mental states rather than their movements and their 
effects, he becomes more subject to social and mental 
influences than to material stimulations. He imitates 
mentally to a considerable extent, where he at first imi- 
tated objectively only. He is now psychically as well as 
instinctively a social being and subject in a high degree 
to many of the social and psychical stimuli of his sur- 
roundings. Imitation is a great aid in learning move- 
ments and gaining knowledge, but it is of still greater 
importance in introducing the child to his psychical 
environment and thus moulding his mental life. / 

Common Consciousness and Social Sensitiveness. 
In this stage there is not at first a self-consciousness 
distinguishing between self and others, but rather a 
common consciousness with others, that has been pro- 
duced by doing what * others do. Laughing, sometimes 
even eating, is impersonal, being almost as pleasurable 
when done by others as when done by the child himself. 
This condition usually remains prominent for a year and 
sometimes for, several years and helps to make this one 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 77 

of the most charming periods of the child's life if he is 
dealt with wisely and lovingly. He enjoys everything 
that is enjoyed by those around him and wishes them to 
share all his pleasures, while his griefs are soon soothed 
by loving caresses. 

In this stage, signs of pleasure and approval in others 
are the strongest stimulus to continuing an act, regard- 
less of what other results there may be. It is for this 
reason that the tendency to show off in such a way as to 
attract attention and produce a laugh or other sign of 
approval, often becomes very strong. The parent who 
punishes a child for engaging in mischief that attracts 
attention and laughter usually finds that the painful re- 
sults do not stop the act so long as people show by their 
expression that they enjoy it. 

This condition, often described as forwardness, has its 
opposite in shyness. In the first stage of development 
this is little more than the fear that is always likely to 
be excited by new things and strange persons, but in 
the second, it is the result of doubt as to whether feel- 
ings of approval or disapproval will be excited in 
strangers by approaching them or doing things in their 
presence. In this stage the child who is sensitive to 
social stimuli, but who has had unfortunate experiences 
of disapproval, may lead a restrained and unhappy life, 
except when alone or with those who he feels will ap- 
prove of him. 

In some children the two conditions of shyness and 
showing off are combined in complex ways. The strong 
impulse to get in touch with persons by doing some- 
thing to attract their notice, and the fear that their re- 
sponse will be one of disapproval, may struggle with 
each other and one jnay dominate at one time, then the 



78 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

other, in a way most puzzling to his friends and perhaps 
to the child himself. If the results of attracting atten- 
tion are generally favorable, the child may get over his 
shyness in that particular line, at least, but if unfavor- 
able he may either avoid people or show off a great deal 
if he can attract attention, even though it be unfavor- 
able. This tendency is often more prominent, however, 
in a later stage of development. 

There is another type of child in whom social sensi- 
tiveness is deficient or slow in developing, who remains 
during these years apparently indifferent to the approval 
of others except as it is followed by the giving of plea- 
sure or the infliction of pain. Such children appear to be 
controlled only by punishment or reward as are animals, 
but it may be that this seeming lack of humanness is 
due to unsympathetic treatment or lack of emotional 
expression in those around the child, or to a retarda- 
tion of mental development that may be overcome by 
abundance of social experience. It is probable that this 
retardation is likely to occur in children who for one 
reason or another have imitated persons but little and 
received few indications of the mental state of others 
and have, therefore, failed to develop to any considerable 
extent a common consciousness. They often appear to 
be stolid because they do not respond to the social sug- 
gestions of emotional expression. This condition is 
much more marked in institutional children than in 
those living in a family. 

Illustrations of Social Sensitiveness. Boy of fifteen 
months. When he sees some one of the family smiling 
at him will trot around and bend to one side and do 
other things to attract notice. He is, however, shy with 
strangers. 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 79 

Girl of fifteen montlis. Nearly always smiles, even if 
crying, when any one smiles at her. 

Girl of twenty -two months says " cry " in a pathetic 
tone when looking at a picture of some one crying. 
She did this once when only the attitude indicated 
grief. 

Girl of twenty-two months, when pretending to read, 
looks up to see if any one is noticing or laughing. 

Girl of two years. Wants to do everything that 
others do and is willing to wait for her turn in games, 
gymnastics or whatever is being done. 

At two years she heard some one say in an expressive 
tone, " I was scared when I saw how much oatmeal 
there was." She dropped her spoon and seemed afraid 
of the oatmeal she was about to eat until reassured re- 
garding it. 

On another occasion she seemed to appreciate that 
her mother had been hurt when she saw her come 
against a door rather hard, although no sign of pain was 
visible. She said "Do, do (door), cy, cy " (cry), in a 
sympathetic tone. 

Girl of two years recognizes disapproval and seems 
to try to dissipate it by saying " Mamma " in a wheed- 
ling tone. 

Girl of two years. When sister cries, walks around 
her, tries to hug her saying, " Hug her," " Better." 
She also wants to rub her mother's head if it aches. 

She pinched her father and was pinched by him. She 
then pinched him again and insisted on being pinched 
in turn, apparently to get the full meaning of the act. 

Girl thirty-two months. Showed sympathy for a per- 
son who had a cut finger. 

Girl thirty-three months. Obedience seems now not 



80 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

SO much a habit as conscious submission of seH to an- 
other. 

Girl, twenty-seven months. Always wants to share 
and have others share, e. g., wants to get on father's lap 
when brother does and wishes him to remain. 

Girl, thirty-one months, said to doll, " You like me, 
dollie ? " then turning to her mother said, " Dollie likes 
me." 

Boy twenty-eight months. Having been tapped lightly 
on the cheek by his father as a punishment, he sat on 
his father's lap and cuddled up to him saying at inter- 
vals, " I don't want papa to slap me." The matter was 
explained and he did not again commit the offence. Evi- 
dently there was a disturbance, but not a rupture of 
common consciousness. 

Boy three years. His mother was uneasy, not know- 
ing where his sister was, but said nothing about it and 
tried not to show it. Soon he said he wished he could 
see his sister and finally, " I am not happy. Mamma," 
evidently having caught the feeling from his mother. 

Development of Social and Self Ideas. Although 
children early in this stage show a great deal of individ- 
uality and frequently resist both objective and social 
influences brought to bear upon them to make them re- 
frain from mischief (which is, play or other activities 
pleasing to them and not pleasing to adults) yet the in- 
dividuality is not at first a conscious one. The child 
shares mental states with others, with now more empha- 
sis upon the self phases and again more upon the mental 
states of others who are sharing his experiences, but 
there is usually for a considerable time no clear line of 
demarcation between self and other persons or even be- 
tween self and other things. All things that move of 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 81 

themselves, such as animals, and all things resembling 
animals or persons, such as dolls and toys, are often to 
the child sharers in active conscious life. Trees and 
flowers that move in the wind and even inanimate stones 
may also be regarded as conscious by some children, 
not only at this time but much later. 

A little girl of three and a half years said, when 
putting down a caterpillar, " He wants to go and see 
his folks, don't he?" 

A boy of three and a quarter years said to a cat, 
" Roll over," with apparently the same confidence in 
being understood as when speaking to persons. 

A little girl of less than three said, " Poor wood," 
when she saw it placed on the fire. 

A girl of nearly three complained of a basket, " It 
won't mind me." 

Whatever emphasizes the difference between the 
consciousness of self and that of others, such as (a) 
sickness, with its peculiar and often intense feelings as- 
sociated with special treatment, (b) marked difference 
in occupation and treatment of self as compared with 
that given to others, and (c) opposition between his 
own desires and pleasures and those of the people 
around him, hastens the process of differentiating the 
common consciousness of self and consciousness of 
others. 

Knowledge of the bodily self is gained just as is 
knowledge of other objects and it greatly influences 
the ideas of the mental self. The hands are among the 
first parts to be noticed, often being watched and one 
felt of or even picked up by the other. The feet come 
next, then perhaps nose and eyes. Most of these are 
usually familiar before the close of the first year. In the 



82 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

second period a more conscious knowledge of their pe- 
culiar relation to one's feelings is gained. One little girl 
wanted her fingers taken off, apparently not realizing 
that they might not be removed and put on again as 
were her mittens or shoes. A girl of three bit her 
fingers, one till it bled, "to see if it was really me." 
Children, before the close of this period, often strike or 
scold their hands for doing something forbidden, though 
this may be in imitation of older people. Dress plays a 
prominent part in the ideas of the bodily self. Boys 
often think for some time that they were girls till they 
left off dresses and put on trousers, when they became 
boys. 

The child's mental self and the selves of father, 
mother and friends are for a long time parts of a 
common consciousness, and only after considerable ex- 
perience in which his own and the common conscious- 
ness are contrasted or opposed, does there emerge the 
clear idea of his own self as a separable and distinct 
whole instead of part of a common consciousness. In- 
deed, even in adult life, the feeling of a common con- 
sciousness sometimes becomes so great in cooperative 
effort or sympathetic appreciation that the individual 
self almost or quite disappears for the time. 

When the child has reached his third birthday, and 
often long before, he not only feels a self different from 
other persons, but is often able to think of his own 
mental self as a whole as distinct from other selves, now 
sharing with them and now in opposition to them. Pre- 
vious to this, obedience has been merely reacting to the 
social stimuli that so readily affect him, but now it be- 
comes more conscious and he may oppose a good deal of 
resistance not merely to doing certain objective acts but 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 83 

to the submission of his " me " to the domination of an- 
other personality. 

Language of course plays a considerable part in the 
development of the idea of self, just as it does in the 
development of all ideas. The child is first helped in dis- 
tinguishing persons, including himself, by their names, 
just as names help to distinguish objects. In the use of 
the pronouns, " my," " I " and " you," when the owner 
or speaker is distinguished for the time being, whatever 
his permanent name may be, the child learns to give 
closer attention to the exact relation of that person 
to the situation. 

The child's " I don't want to " and the parents* 
"But I want you to" bring in contrast not only the 
two selves but their attitude toward the same thing. 
There is good ground, therefore, for the claim that the 
idea of the seK as a distinct conscious being has de- 
veloped when the words " I " and " you " are used cor- 
rectly and that as a rule it has not developed much 
earlier, although the use of possessives, such as " mine," 
" papa's," may have helped to the formation of a fairly 
definite idea of a conscious self, distinct from other con- 
scious selves. Usually, however, these words imply only 
an objective self with the incidentally associated feel- 
ings. 

The clearer idea of self may come into consciousness 
either gradually or suddenly. Some persons claim to re- 
member distinctly its sudden emergence. It is not, how- 
ever, even after it has been clearly formed, an idea that 
is continually present, or of the same degree of promi- 
nence. On the contrary, as an idea it appears only occar 
sionally at this time and later, though the feeling with 
which it is associated is always, except in unusual states 



84 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

of absorption, a part of the conscious life. To adults 
the idea of selfhood sometimes occurs with peculiar 
vividness and it may be that those who say that the 
idea first came to them at a certain well remembered 
time, may be really describing, not the first emergence 
of the idea, but one of its earliest, most vivid and pro- 
longed appearances. 

The ordinary consciousness of self is not much more 
prominent than the consciousness of the immediate ob- 
jective surroundings and of other persons who are or 
might be also conscious of them. We are most of the time 
aware of where we are and of how our acts are likely to 
be regarded by others. Consciousness of self, and con- 
sciousness of usual surroundings and of others to be 
affected are, the greater portion of the time, the back- 
ground of definite conscious states instead of being 
themselves prominent phases of consciousness. It is 
only occasionally even in adults, that the self is brought 
into prominence and separately emphasized either in 
feeling or thought, and then consciousness of self is 
nearly always contrasted with a consciousness of others. 

Consciousness of self, in its usual permanent form of 
a background for other things, is probably of biological 
value in coordinating reactions to correspond to bodily 
conditions and to the immediate situation. If the phy- 
siological processes are disturbed or weakened, the usual 
modes of reaction may be varied because of the change 
in feeling. A sick or wounded animal does not attempt 
to escape danger in the same way as a vigorous one. 
The feeling of equilibrium and of special relation to 
surrounding things is equally prominent and necessary 
to successful reactions. Animals, therefore, probably 
have vague feelings of a unitary self that aid them in 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZINCx STAGE 85 

making appropriate reactions, but they are not so in- 
tense and are probably not definitely distinguished as 
they may be in human beings. 

The value of such feelings and discriminations is not, 
in human beings, however, chiefly biological, but psy- 
chological. It is well to be aware of physiological dis- 
turbances in order that they may be corrected, but the 
chief function of self -consciousness is to help us to bring 
our mental states into harmony with each other and 
with those of other persons, by eliminating what is objec- 
tionable and emphasizing what is desirable. 

The power to distinguish the individual peculiarities 
of self and others, is of great advantage in dealing 
with persons. Something of this power have children in 
the first stage of development. This in such cases is, 
however, almost wholly an objective matter, consisting 
in knowing what to expect from persons, including 
one's self, because of previous experience with them. 
In this second stage of development the child under- 
stands the actions of persons and knows how to re- 
spond to them, not merely as he does to things, but 
because he recognizes their conscious states. He now 
knows that the things people do are largely to be ex- 
plained by motives rather than by the influence of outer 
forces, as is the case with objects and machines. This 
consciousness is indicated by the question so frequent a 
little later, " What are you doing that for ? '* 

Only through common experience and a development 
of a consciousness of motives can the child effectively 
respond to his human environment. In a primitive state 
of society they may even be necessary to preserve life. 
Such consciousness is the basis of successful cooperative 
effort by groups and in all stages of civilization and in 



86 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

individual development is one of the chief sources of 
mental pleasure. To know persons as psychical beings 
is as important as to know them as physical beings, and 
such knowledge can only be gained in connection with 
the gaining of self-knowledge. On the other hand, 
knowledge of self can only be gained through the 
knowledge of other selves that differ from as well as re- 
semble us. 

Emotionally a strong self-life is a necessary basis of 
social affections. One must have felt strongly in com- 
mon with others and by one's self in order to appreciate 
the feelings of others. Self-feelings are also a basis of 
moral feelings. To love others as one's self would mean 
not to love them at all if one entirely lacked self-love. 
At every stage there is inevitably close reciprocal rela- 
tion between self-appreciation and the appreciation of 
others, although one may be emphasized at the expense 
of the other. 

To be self-conscious means that there is mental or- 
ganization and unification or, in physiological terms, 
that the higher cerebral centers are organized and con- 
nected in such a way that they can function independ- 
ently as one, and direct to some extent the activities of 
the lower centers. A considerable development of mem- 
ory and free ideas must have taken place, otherwise 
there could be no conception of a permanent self, un- 
dergoing experiences similar or different from those 
previously undergone. More experience in observing 
this comparatively permanent seK is necessary than has 
usually been attained in this stage, before it can be re- 
flectively known as a continuous yet changing self, but 
reflections regarding self are common in the next period. 

It is during this period of common consciousness 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 87 

that the germs of character and especially of the emo- 
tional life are developed. The child reacts as others do, 
and shares to a greater or less extent all the feelings 
expressed in tone and gestures by those around him, 
especially when he and they are engaged in the same 
activities. He acquires from others many antipathies 
and likings that he feels, but cannot explain in later 
life. This is perhaps most noticeable in the case of fears. 
If the persons around him show fear of worms, insects, 
snakes, darkness, lightning, etc., he shares their feelings 
and may in later life be unable to overcome his timidity 
and repugnance although he knows there is absolutely 
no basis in reason or fact for such feelings. No doubt 
many characteristics often supposed to be instinctive or 
inherited are the result of emotional attitudes produced 
by the actions of others during this period of great sus- 
ceptibility to social influences. The effects of such im- 
pressions remain and permanently affect character 
although memory can rarely recall any specific event 
that occurred during this period. Professor Judd gives 
a striking instance of a man who had an unaccountable 
fear of horses, but inquiry revealed the fact that he had 
when a small child been bitten and frightened by a 
horse. The emotional eif ects remained although he had 
no conscious memory of the event. 

There is probably no more important period in the 
life of an individual as regards his emotional nature 
(which is the basis of character) than this period when 
the child is learning to share the mental life of others. 
The spirit of the people around the child, the atmo- 
sphere of the home, never enter so fully into the child's 
own nature and become a part of it as during this time. 

Health is very important at this time, not simply for 



88 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

its own sake, but because of the effects of physiological 
disturbances upon the feelings, disposition and charac- 
ter. Every disturbance of physical well-being helps to 
give an unfavorable trend to the conscious life that is 
forming, hastening self-consciousness, interfering with 
the development of a common consciousness and foster- 
ing contrariness and other undesirable individual char- 
acteristics that are often common in the next period. 

Some persons never seem to be able to develop a 
satisfactory social consciousness so that they can get 
into proper relationship with other persons. They may 
be antagonistic or helpful, but cannot seem to be at one 
with others. Such persons also often lack the feeling 
of unity with a higher being which their religious im- 
pulses lead them to desire. It is probable that this de- 
ficiency is due in part at least to the fact that when the 
mental and social self was being formed in the second 
stage of development, they failed for some reason to de- 
velop the feeling of a common consciousness with others. 
The individual self-consciousness developed alone and 
in opposition to other people, instead of emerging and 
being differentiated from a common consciousness. 

The two most important things to provide during 
this period are (1) pleasant, sympathetic relations be- 
tween the child and those around him, and (2) the 
uniform conditions and treatment which are favorable 
to the formation of desirable habits of conduct. Obedi- 
ence should, during this period, be more a matter of 
habit than of conscious volition. 

Language Acquisition and Ideas. It is during this 
period that language, the medium by which more specific 
and individual common conscious states are produced, 
is learned with great rapidity. The emotional phases of 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 89 

common consciousness may be developed through the 
medium of natural signs, and are then readily shared, 
but well defined intellectual states can be produced 
and shared only as a more definite artificial language is 
acquired. There is, therefore, a very close relation be- 
tween learning to talk and development of the intelli- 
gence. 

In observing what persons do and in sharing their 
mental states the child notices a great deal of moving 
of lips and uttering of sounds, and imitates those move- 
ments and sounds. At first, even if the words are fairly 
well produced, he shares the mental states of others 
only as regards the feeling of vocal activity. Sounds, 
however, are so frequently made with expressive signs 
and in close relation with objects, movements, qualities 
and persons, that the child mentally reproduces a part 
or all of the associated experience whenever he hears 
such sounds. When such an experience is repeated and 
he utters the corresponding word it is then no longer a 
mere vocal performance, but signifies a particular ob- 
ject, act, quality or mental state. A child who first 
heard the word " tired " after walking some distance, 
and was at the same time taken up and carried, may 
have associated the word either with the feeling of 
weariness or with the act of being taken up or both, 
but she often afterward said, " Tired, carry," when she 
wished to be carried. 

A new means of sharing the consciousness of others 
is thus opened to the child. Speaking words is no 
longer a mere vocal play or even a means of getting 
hunger or other wants supplied, but of getting and 
sharing mental experiences. The social child is, there- 
fore, the one who learns language most quickly. Al- 



90 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

though the child is all the time acquiring new and 
more definite ideas of things by his own observation 
and experience, yet his attention is being directed and 
his ideas formed to a large extent by the consciousness 
of others, through the medium of words that become 
associated with and help to define particular phases of 
his own conscious experiences. 

The child seeks names for objects and acts that he 
has noticed and thus increases his own vocabulary, 
while on the other hand words of others are continually 
directing his attention to things that he would otherwise 
give little attention to and thus his ideas are increased 
in number and their meaning and relation become 
better defined. 

The child's sentences are for a long time very in- 
complete, indicating only the situation as a whole or 
some interesting phase of it, and his ideas are doubtless 
in the same condition. 

The whole situation may be indicated by a word 
specifying some phase of it, as when " bed " and " chair '* 
mean the act of sitting or lying down as much or more 
than the objects. The more complete sentences that are 
used later both indicate and help produce more dis- 
criminative mental states. The complex mental state of 
perceiving a thing as a whole and also as composed of 
related parts is not as yet possible. This is clearly in- 
dicated not only by incomplete sentences, but also by the 
partial, detached character of the child's earliest draw- 
ings, in which there appear to be only very indefinite 
ideas of size, shape, number and position of parts of 
the object and their relation to the whole. 

Every object or situation is complex, producing many 
sensations, and it is unified and simplified by the re- 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 91 

action that is made to it. A wooden block felt, seen 
and heard, is to a child a single unit and not a number 
of separate sensations of sight, touch and sound, because 
in playing with it, it is treated as one. The essential 
thing is to learn to react in ways that bring satisfactory 
results. This may be done to some extent without the 
help of language, so long as the reaction is merely one 
of physical movement in relation to the actual object. 
The utterance of a word, however, is a form of reaction 
that unifies as effectively as any other form of reaction 
and it is one that will serve when the object is not 
present, and that will serve for mental qualities and 
states as well as for objective situations. Words are 
therefore of great help in selecting elements of experi- 
ences and in forming the corresponding ideas. 

Images of sensations and reactions can serve in the 
absence of the actual situation, but without language 
there would be no means of arousing such images, either 
in our minds or the minds of others, except by at least a 
partial reproduction of the actual objective conditions, 
and then there would be no means of signifying what 
phase of the whole experience was intended to be em- 
phasized. 

Since words may be made a part of any situation and 
then used later to recall the image of the whole experi- 
ence or any part of it, language is one of the chief in- 
struments for developing images and freeing them, and 
for forming abstract ideas. Whatever whole or part is 
associated with a word is thereby isolated, unified and 
simplified so that, though it may vary in the sensations 
it gives, still the child may distinguish it from other 
things and regard it as the same. Every object gives 
different sensations according to its position, lighting, 



92 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

temperature, moisture, etc. A cup produces thousands 
of varying sensations, but if it is always reacted to by 
the word " cup " the variations are little noticed and it 
is readily distinguished from another variously appear- 
ing object that is called by the child and others, " ball." 

Without language, the child, like animals, would 
know only a limited number of objects and would know 
them only in the sense of being able to react to them 
successfully in a few ways. With language, he can 
learn of things within his environment, and of things 
resembling them elsewhere. He is also continually 
guided amid the complexity of similarity and difference 
by the word reactions of those around him. Words 
thus determine almost completely how the world shall 
be organized in the microcosm of his mind. In learning 
a language and effecting such mental organization, the 
child becomes entirely different from animals and from 
what he was in the first stage. People of different 
languages have their ideas organized differently so that 
equivalent expressions are often hard to find, and child- 
ren illustrate the same thing in their use of words. 

Development of Language and Ideas Illustrated. 
The following exact reproduction of what was said by 
a little girl at intervals of six months shows how her 
ideas and her sentences developed and shows how her 
thoughts and remarks, from being suggested by external 
things, gradually became more connected and dominated 
by interests. 

Two years and four months. 

"Little story (tell me a little story). Dat all? 
New cuff? Crack want (I want a cracker). Make boy 
(when she saw her father using a pencil). Crack good. 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 93 

Upstairs sleep. Hot, very hot. Milk. Grandpa. Very- 
hot, sugar on it (the oatmeal is very hot, put sugar or 
cream on it). Down (as she put cooky down). Cough 
(when some one sneezed). Want that (a date). Oh 
my ! stone. More, want more. Good, want good (nuts). 
Salt my on (I want salt on my nuts). Three, four, five 
(as the clock strikes). Picktooth. Grape, want. Baby, 
baby, little baby." 

Two years and ten months. 

"I make a noise. Tha<t oo ? Know what that? That 
do ? This what I play. Know this ? I tired." 

" I lay on the lounge. He touch my hand (the baby). 
I brush my hair. I want to see baby climb up there. I 
want to see that baby. Baby squeeze. Baby get hold of 
my dress. Tie this around me (a string). I want hand- 
kerchief. I want this washed (a soiled handkerchief). 
This a clean handkerchief. Can't fold it." 

" I want my old cloak. I want go out. Go out here, 
my hat. I want to go out down. I want to go out, have 
hat on, cloak on. I wait for the boy. I play with the 
boy. Take his hat off? Did he take his hat off? I play 
with boy more. Know who that ? I want to see the 
milkman. Dinner ready." 

Three years and four months. 

"Baby want to get down, run around a little. I 
run back and forth. No, I don't want to run out in 
the haU. Baby do like to have me run in here, baby do. 
He want me to run here. Baby want come out. You 
have to move away so baby can come out. No, go this 
way. Come round this way. I did n't mean to. Baby 
won't come. Come, baby. Baby won't come. You have 



94 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

to come. Put my carriage somewhere else so baby come. 
Baby won't come. Come, baby, come. I want to have 
door open so baby can come in." 

Three years and ten months. 

" There is a nice little kitty. Don't you want to go 
down there and pat him ? Why don't you ? He is nice 
and soft. He is afraid sometimes. 1 tried to catch him 
and give him to you to pat him. He is a nice and soft 
kitty. Lots of kittens down cellar sometimes. Kitty 
thought it would run upstairs. Yes, kitty, he run up- 
stairs. He likes to have you hug him. He likes to have 
you pat him, don't he? He runs fast down cellar. I 
make cakes in the sand pile now. See those seats there 
now. I get a shell here. That 's a seat, that 's a seat 
and that 's the table where you eat your dinner. Don't 
you want to eat some dinner ? This is grapes here. We 
play that is grapes. Be careful not to break the grapes." 

Perceptions and Images. Intellectually, this second 
period, besides being a period of language learning, is 
also preeminently one of development in sense percep- 
tion and of image formation. For a considerable part of 
the preceding period, objects are known only in certain 
situations ; e. g., an object so important to the infant as 
the mother's breast may be known only by touch, and 
the mother herself be known only by the several sensa- 
tions of touch, voice and gesture and not at all by form. 
Before the close of the first year the child identifies many 
objects by means of one kind of sensation, that later are 
recognized equally well through any one of several 
senses. 

During the first period he learns the specific rela- 
tions between sensations given by familiar objects that 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 95 

he has seen, touched and tasted. A knowledge of the 
general relations between sensations, such as enables a 
child to know how a new object will affect another 
sense, is not established. The weight, smoothness, tem- 
perature, taste or sound-producing qualities of new ob- 
jects are not perceived through the sense of sight, until 
there has been experience of touching, tasting, etc. of 
the objects seen. 

During the second period the general relations be- 
tween sensations are better established, but the child 
still wants to feel, taste, lift or strike new objects to see 
what sensations they will give. 

These general relations which are the basis of all 
perceptions are also the source of illusions and children 
in this second stage often mistake salt or snow for sugar, 
but they are scarcely at all subject to some sense illu- 
sions such as are prominent in adults. 

The child now also acquires ideas of objects corre- 
sponding, not to all their different appearances, but to 
the standard or " real " appearance of each. This ap- 
pearance that is taken as real may be one often presented 
but it is more likely to be the one that other appearances 
can most readily be transformed into, and that will then 
serve practical purposes. The true or standard shape 
and size of a rectangle is the appearance it takes when 
held at a little less than arm's length and at right angles 
to the line of vision. By placing objects in this conven- 
ient position they may be compared most effectively, 
hence this is taken as their real appearance. How ob- 
jects look in other positions is of interest only as they 
suggest the standard appearance. A child in building 
with blocks of various sizes scattered over the floor is at 
first not able to judge of their size and shape because 



96 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

they look different both as regards size and shape ac- 
cording as they are distant or close at hand. By picking 
them up and looking at them at right angles he gets a 
better view of them and can better judge whether they 
wiU fit in the place he wants filled. After much experi- 
ence of bringing the blocks to that position where they 
can best be seen, he comes to know before reaching for 
them what the appearance will be and does not take 
them unless he thinks they will fit. He is soon able, in- 
stead of noticing how objects actually appear, to form 
an idea of how they would appear near at hand and at 
right angles, and is thus able to compare those that are 
near with those that are distant. In thus forming con- 
venient standard ideas of the appearance of things he 
learns to ignore their actual sensory appearances. It is 
therefore often hard for an adult to see and draw an 
object as it really looks in a certain position. 

The development of perception in every line involves 
this same process o^ ignoring some sensations and noting 
others. Words are identified although spoken in various 
keys and tones, and objects of touch are recognized in 
spite of variations in temperature. 

It is partly through social suggestion also that per- 
ceptive associations are formed. Characteristics that are 
named and emphasized by the actions of others become 
the chief phase of any object or situation. Ideas of what 
is good, agreeable, pretty, dangerous, etc. are thus to a 
considerable extent formed by social suggestion. Words 
are also an important means of social suggestion, and 
help the child to go far beyond the animals in the de- 
velopment of sense perception. The word " heavy " em- 
phasizes not only the strain that is being felt but also 
the visual appearance of the object and the character of 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 97 

the lifting movement required, and it is partly for this 
reason that certain objects look "heavy," "light," 
" good," " pretty," and not merely because of present 
experience with the objects. With the appearances are 
associated not only sensations given by them in the past 
but also the mental states produced by the reactions of 
others to the objects. 

The fundamental laws of physics are being acquired 
in a perceptive way as the child plays with toys of all 
kinds. Some objects will stand, others will fall, others 
roll, some may be crushed, others not. Some, such as 
liquids, run freely and cannot be grasped, while others 
are immovable. A child well along in the second year 
may be unaware even in a perceptive way that an object 
placed in a box when it is bottom up, will not stay as it 
will when it is right side up, and may again and again 
ignore the fundamental law of gravity by placing objects 
where they are unsupported. In the first period he 
learns to perceive his own equilibrium or lack of it, but 
in this second period, with some help from the actions 
of others, he learns how the equilibrium of other objects 
may be preserved. 

Many of these associations involve space perceptions 
which in this period are developed to a considerable ex- 
tent. In the first period the child develops sufficient 
power of space perception to direct his own movements, 
but he has not progressed far in perceiving the space 
relations of objects to each other. With some percep- 
tion of the relation of objects to himself and the move- 
ment reactions required for various purposes, the child, 
during the second period, with his own reactions as a 
basis, learns in a practical and to some extent in an 
ideational way the directions front, behind, up, down, 



98 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

under, beside, in, over, and the terms top and bottom, 
and acquires some idea of the relation of parts to the 
whole in the same object. Such ideas are very indefi- 
nite, as is indicated by the child's early drawings and 
by the fact that discrimination of forms and the per- 
ception of what is lacking in a familiar form such as a 
drawing of the human face, in which nose or chin is 
omitted, are imperfectly developed at the close of this 
period. Such perceptual development is reciprocally 
related to the freer activity of imaging and conceiving 
objects, classes and relations, yet on the other hand, 
only as associations are formed, and imaging and con- 
ceptional activity called forth, is progress in perception 
possible. 

There can be little perception except where the ex- 
citation of one sense center calls forth the activity of 
others and all act as a unified group to produce a stand- 
ard image. The germs of hosts of images and concepts 
of classes and relations are therefore being formed while 
the child's perceptive development is taking place, but 
during the early part of the period the mental activity 
is chiefly perceptual because it is the result almost 
wholly of stimulation by objects. Soon, however, the 
sounds of words serve nearly as well as sensations from 
objects, as a stimulus to unified activity of a certain 
type, or in other words to the arousal of images and 
ideas. 

At first, the words must be uttered by some one else, 
before the cerebral activity corresponding to the idea is 
excited, but later the idea may be aroused in the 
child's mind by objects associated with the one named. 
The development of this possibility results in the for- 
mation of free images, which a little later may be aroused 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 99 

not only by objects or by words, but also by other 
images. In this stage of development such free ideas 
are formed in large numbers as is indicated by the fact 
that the child may acquire a vocabulary of one or two 
thousand words. 

These ideas are not, however, free from association 
with particular experiences. A word brings not only an 
image of what is named but also other phases of a 
particular experience. The child can easily understand 
descriptions of what he has done and experienced if 
given in familiar words, but he does not readily under- 
stand a description of the experience of another. If part 
of it is like one that he has had he may be able to follow 
the story pretty well, though it is often difficult to get 
him away from his own desires or experiences. When 
kitty was named in a story, a girl of two and one-half 
said, " I want a kitty," and when a baU was mentioned, 
" I want a ball." Not infrequently children, when being 
told a story, try to teU something like it that happened 
to them. By slight variations of familiar experiences 
told in story form, the child learns in the latter part of 
this period to follow a story pretty well. 

Few things can be understood by the child except 
through the medium of images of his own experiences. 
It is not practicable to explain one word by another. 
The new word needs to be associated with some con- 
crete experience, though sometimes several words may 
suggest a situation with sufficient vividness to make it 
possible to attach a new word to it. The child of less 
than three, however, often attaches an emotional signifi- 
cance and vague meaning to unfamiliar words, suggested 
partly by the tone and manner of the speaker, and 
partly by the situation and by a few familiar words 



100 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

among those that he hears. He thus appreciates in an 
emotional way a scene that is portrayed in words, al- 
though he attaches definite ideas to few of the words 
used. 

Illustrations of Perception and Imagery. A girl at 
one year begins to play with two objects, a ball and a 
box. Does not know that the ball will not stay in if the 
box is tipped. She shows perception of classes of ob- 
jects in opening her mouth readily when told to do so, 
if she has food in it, but not when she has buttons or 
anything else likely to be taken from her. 

Girl of twenty-five months called a picture of a cow, 
" dog." A few days later she named a cow and horse 
correctly but called a horse that she did not see very 
plainly, "cow" ; then the next one she saw she named 
correctly but in a questioning way until assured that 
she was right. She likes to have some one draw pictures 
of familiar objects for her but wishes only enough 
drawn so she can name the objects. 

At thirty-three and one-half months, she asks names 
of parts of things such as the tray, foot-board and arms 
of high chair, sides of screen door, parts of U. S. mail 
box. 

Girl of thirteen months. Bounces a ball and smells 
of flowers. Looks around in an interested way when in 
a strange room. Tries to put one thimble in another, 
but does not seem to distinguish which ends to put to- 
gether. Enjoys putting toothpicks in a little box. Re- 
cognized two persons she had not seen for over two 
weeks. 

At fourteen months she is much interested in holes 
and covers. At one time she played over a quarter of an 
hour with a box and its cover without changing her at- 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 101 

tention. She was much interested in a spider but afraid 
to touch the strangely moving object. 

At fifteen months she knows enough of objects to ex- 
pect them not to move of themselves, hence was fright- 
ened when a whisk broom came down when she pulled 
at something else, and was afraid to go near a piece of 
paper that was being moved by a girl hidden behind the 
door. Has just discovered that pencils will mark and 
has been using one a good deal. When looking in a 
mirror she turned when her father approached and his 
image appeared, and seemed puzzled that there were two 
of him. 

At sixteen months she recognized olives by sight 
after having seen and tasted them once. Distinguished 
readily between bread and cake when she asked for one 
and was offered the other. At another time she begged 
for a bread crust evidently thinking it cake, but recog- 
nized the difference before tasting it. She confuses the 
words " eye " and " ear." She tries to use fork, spoon and 
button-hook for their appropriate purposes. She knows 
pretty well what classes of objects she is permitted to 
have and what are forbidden. 

At seventeen months she had difficulty in shutting a 
door, and seeing some bits of paper on the floor, picked 
them up, apparently thinking that they interfered. She 
often turns the face of a person toward what she wants 
him to see. She has tried to use a nail and also a pencil 
as if it were a button-hook, but it may not be a case of 
mistaken perception. 

At twenty months she insisted that a watch was a 
clock although corrected several times, but finally gave 
up and called it watch when her mother as well as her 
father gave it that name when she held it up. She now 



102 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

builds a good deal with blocks and discriminates blocks 
from other things and the larger ones from the smaller. 

At twenty-one months she showed knowledge of 
gravity by pouring from one vessel to another and once 
by holding a spoon while she poured some nuts out. 

At twenty-two months, patted successively several 
kinds of chairs, saying, " chair, chair," and looking for 
confirmation. Can now put all her cubes (twenty-seven) 
in a box. She turns them instead of trying to jam them 
in as formerly. Has succeeded in piling up as many as 
thirteen in one column. 

At twenty-three months she called the trunk of an 
elephant in a picture, a " nose." 

At two years had not learned color names but readily 
sorted blocks of the six standard colors in imitation of 
her mother, without any hesitation except between blue 
and violet. This probably means that she had been per- 
ceiving color for some time. At this time she also be- 
gan to build with blocks instead of merely piling them 
up. 

Boy of twenty-five months. Saw snowflakes and said, 
"What flies doing?" 

Girl of twenty-one months begins to use words for 
objects not present, especially such words as " boy " or 
" man " after one has been at the house, perhaps pointing 
at the place where he was. Once when she seemed to be 
reviewing her experience of the day, her father said, 
" Boy Margaret came. Papa put on baby's hood and 
cloak and she went out for a walk, then she cried and 
papa came and got her." She gave a satisfied grunt 
as if he had expressed what she had been living over 
again in her mind. She was much interested in a kitty, 
and pointed out its nose, eyes, ears, etc. 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 103 

At twenty-two months she often tells the story of an 
experience by a word and a gesture. For example, 
" Face " with gestures toward a pail of water indicated 
that she had a short time before put her face in it. One 
day she seemed to be engaged in " make believe " as she 
several times came in and went out waving " good-bye," 
her eyes shining as if she enjoyed the play. She was 
much excited by a cot bed falling with her mother and 
told about it in three words, each repeated several times : 
" Bed, bed, mamma, mamma, fa, fa" (fall). 

The following notes indicate the ability of this girl 
at twenty-three months to follow a story. She had been 
interested in stories told, but she had only once showed 
interest in a story read to her. That was a story about 
crying (something she has indulged in a good deal when 
crossed). When told about a little girl who did about 
the same things as she did and wore similar clothes, 
frequent pauses being made for her to grasp the idea, 
she seemed to follow it pretty well, often repeating the 
words that meant the most to her, and sometimes put- 
ting her face in her hands and laughing. A few weeks 
later she was much interested in listening to a story 
read to her, and soon after, in other stories. When being 
read to, if the story has many unfamiliar words she 
turns the leaves of the book for the next story and 
listens to it if it proves interesting. 

At two years, often noted resemblance of pieces of 
food to a dog, bird, baby, kitty. When questioned was 
able to point to various parts as head, leg, etc. She 
called a potato with a pointed end and a curling stem 
at the other end, a " dog." She called a piece of bread 
" Po (poor) baby," and pointed out its various features 
when asked to do so, but showed little appreciation of 



104 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

relative positions, naming as an " ear " a part entirely 
separated from what had suggested the face to her. 

The following stories were told by Professor Cham- 
berlain's little girl before she was three. 

" There was a little dirl digging in the tow (snow) 
and when she fell down she bedan to try, and she dot 
up and she wan home to her mamma and she toll her 
mamma, ' I broke my leg.' " 

" There was a little dirl who jumped up and down. 
Who ditted (got) in her funny tart, and her mamma took 
her out, and her mamma buyed her a brura (bureau)." 

Memory. Habits are very readily formed during this 
period and it is hard to tell when a child's memories be- 
come something more than conscious habits. When a sit- 
uation suggests not merely a movement that has been 
made before but an idea of what is going to follow, as 
when the sight of a hat and carriage suggests the idea 
of a ride, one is likely to think this is evidence of mem- 
ory but it is probable that no idea of past experiences 
is formed in such cases. The present situation is partly 
identified with a previous one and suggests what is to 
follow, without involving any reproduction of the past 
experience. When the situation has occurred only once, 
as when a child gets something that he wants, not from 
its usual place but from where he placed it the day be- 
fore, the act appears more like memory, especially if 
the immediate surroundings do not directly suggest the 
object, and he must go somewhere else to find it. 

The case is still clearer when a former experience is 
recalled, not by surroundings but by words, and the 
child then names something in addition to what has been 
mentioned. It is possible that this may be done with- 
out the child thinking of the past as past, but merely 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 105 

Kving it over again by the help of words and images 
without recognizing that it is a reproduced rather than 
a real experience. If the experience is contrasted with 
the present real situation, there is also involved to a 
greater or less extent a consciousness of the self that 
then experienced what is being recalled, and is now in a 
different situation. This is memory in the more com- 
plete sense. A little girl of about two years was ap- 
parently living over an experience of the day before as 
she stood looking off into space, saying, "Boy. Ride. 
Bye," with a wave of her hand. Some one seeing her 
laughed and she hid her head a moment as if embar- 
rassed. The contrast between her reproduction of a 
former experience and the present situation probably 
produced the first consciousness of self. 

Before the close of the third year children often give 
little narratives of incidents that occurred days, weeks 
and even months before. This, of course, indicates 
memory in the full sense of the word, and such mem- 
ories are sometimes retained in later life. A study of 
early memories, however, shows that many people have 
no conscious memory of incidents before they were 
three years old, and few persons have many memories 
dating earlier than this age. 

Illustrations of Habits and Memories. Girl of one 
year seemed to remember where a brush had been 
placed several minutes before. 

Boy of fourteen months. Very curious about a per- 
simmon that was placed on the window sill, and the 
next day when under it, but not where he could see it, 
made noises indicating desire to be shown it. 

Boy of sixteen months wanted a watch charm opened 
that had been opened for him several weeks before. 



106 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

Girl of fifteen months showed evidence of remember- 
ing where she left her cushion ten minutes before. 

Boy of sixteen months, after having kissed grandma 
before being taken upstairs to bed a few times, did it 
not only at nighty but once when taken up during the 
day. 

A girl of one and one-half years went to where her 
cloak had been placed a week before, as if she remem- 
bered. 

A girl of one and one-half years objects to having 
shoes put on before other things which had usually 
been put on first. 

A girl of two years always wanted usual order car- 
ried out even though it was not pleasant to her. 

Another child about two and one-half, after being 
punished for an offence several times, committed the 
offence again, then called attention to it and held out 
her hands for punishment. 

A girl of twenty-two months told of an exciting in- 
cident of the previous day, in three significant words, 
"Mamma, cot, fa" (fall). 

A girl of two years knew what was meant by " toad " 
although she had heard the word but twice and that two 
weeks earlier. 

At twenty-five months a girl started playing creep 
mouse when the place and other conditions were the 
same as when she played three months before. 

A girl of thirty-one months truly said that some 
stitches in her dress had been made by her grandma, 
although two months had elapsed since the dress was 
made. 

A girl of three years mentioned in the winter many 
events that occurred the previous summer. 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 107 

Imagination and Thinking. As the child's power to 
image develops, he becomes less dependent upon imme- 
diate sensory stimulations and does a good deal in the 
way of reproducing interesting experiences that occurred 
at some other time. This internal activity of producing 
again and working over past experiences often becomes 
prominent during this period but not usually dominant 
until the next period. 

It begins in imitating acts some time after they were 
perceived, and increases as imitations become more 
dramatic, suggesting the whole situation rather than 
merely reproducing in detail the movements of the per- 
sons imitated. Words are generally used to help out the 
suggestion of the whole experience. Soon the child, in- 
stead of portraying by pantomime and words a single 
experience, puts together parts of several experiences 
so as to make an interesting situation. He thus enters 
the realm of fancy or creative imagination in which he 
plays with images instead of with objects, a realm in 
which he is likely to dwell a good deal of the time during 
the next period. Even at this stage he may tell little 
imaginative stories modeled after his own experience or 
stories he has heard. 

The concepts of the child at the close of this period, 
although very numerous, are not usually developed 
much beyond the perceptual and imaging stage, while 
reasoning is largely imaginative activity. The child 
distinguishes perceptually between many classes of 
objects. In this respect he is superior to the higher 
animals in number of discriminations rather than in 
definiteness. 

There is, however, little tendency or power to form 
ideas of the essential qualities of different classes of 



108 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

objects, and ideas of what is to be expected of them, 
except in terms of concrete images of parts of particu- 
lar objects and experiences to whicb the child's atten- 
tion may have been directed. 

There is often some attempt to generalize from sev- 
eral particulars, as when a child says, " Mamma is going, 
Papa is going, sister is going, everybody is going." 
Some generalizing and reasoning are also shown in the 
use of language forms, best illustrated perhaps in the 
tendency to follow general rules in adding s or ed, e. g., 
" mans," " breaked," instead of the irregular forms 
" men " and " broke." 

There is also much noting of similarities and rela- 
tions of objects and events and inferring as to what 
things are or what will happen, but there is little or no 
general abstract thinking. There is, however, much de- 
velopment of habit and imaging tendencies that prepare 
the way for more general and abstract thinking and 
reasoning later. 

Illustrations of Imaginative and Conceptual Ac- 
tivity. A boy of two years engages in imaginative play 
with his sister, e. g., eats imaginary candy ; one says, 
" Want to go to mamma," and the other, " Well, you 
may if you are good." 

At twenty-six months he takes very well the part of 
a sick or lame child in imaginative play with sister, play- 
ing sometimes for hours. 

At twenty-eight months he plays he is a dog or kitty 
for long periods of time. 

At thirty months he will for days insist that he is 
a kitty, but if his father says, " I don't want a kitty," 
he says, "la boy." 

At thirty-one months, when getting ready to go to 



IMITATING AND SOCIALIZING STAGE 109 

the woods, said, " I going to the woods, then I won't be 
here," indicating a tendency to reflective thought. 

At thirty-two months he said to his father, " Will you 
be here when you go away ? " as his father was getting 
ready for a journey. 

At thirty-five months he was playing with his sister, 
he having the part of a bear. She told him not to talk, 
that bears did not talk, when he said, " What they have 
a mouth for then ? " She said, *' To eat." He said, 
" Oh ! " as if that were a new idea to him. 



EXERCISES. 

1. Give illustrations of imitations by children under three 
years of age. 

2. Describe the earliest instance that you know of a child 
giving evidence of appreciating the mental state of another. 

3. Describe instances that show that children do not clearly 
distinguish between their own mental states and those of 
others. 

4. Describe instances of children doing things to attract 
attention or get approval. 

5. Describe instances of shyness or of fear. 

6. Describe instances showing the influence of dress upon 
a child's ideas of self. 

7. What is the earliest age at which you have heard a 
child use " I " correctly. 

8. Describe any instance that you know of emotional ex- 
periences before the age of three, the effect of which lasted 
for many years. 

9. If possible, study and describe the progress of one 
child in learning to talk and the corresponding development 
of ideas. 

10. Describe instances of actions and words of children 
under three that you think show a strong tendency to habit 



110 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

formation. Compare some habit actions with what seem to 
be true memories. 

11. Construct stories that you think will interest a child of 
about two and one-half and try them if you can. 

12. Report instances which show perception, imagination 
and reasoning of children under three. 



CHAPTEE VI 

PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 

Characteristics. Social influences remain very prom- 
inent during this period but the child comes in contact 
with more persons and the direction of development is 
somewhat different. The child has accumulated a vast 
amount of mental material from his physical and social 
environment, which has become organized into a con- 
scious self. Within rather wide limits the child now has 
control over his mental life independent of things and 
persons. He now takes his place as a distinct personal- 
ity who is trying, as are other persons, to get all the 
pleasant and harmonious states of consciousness possi- 
ble, both in imagination and from real things and per- 
sons. Although he has many mental states in common 
with others, yet he has a considerable part of his men- 
tal life all to himself. He is no longer simply absorbing 
by imitation of other people but is more selective of 
what shall be imitated and accepted. He attempts to im- 
press his mental states upon others and is often more 
interested in doing so than in receiving from them. He 
is also usually introduced at this time to a wider phy- 
sical and social environment than that of the home. It 
is, therefore, preeminently a period for more complete 
mental reorganization and the development of the human 
personality into an individual personality. 

The child has, by native endowment, a great deal of 
individuality almost from the first, but during this pe- 
riod he more consciously and intentionally modifies and 



112 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

develops his mental individuality. So completely does 
he do this that the mental characteristics that are promi- 
nent at the close of this period are generally retained 
till the period of transition at puberty. A child of six 
may be quite different from what he was at three, but 
at twelve he is very likely to have the same general 
characteristics that we knew when he was six. 

Self -Assertion. In order that the new conscious per- 
sonality may be individualized, the child, instead of 
sharing and absorbing the mental life of others all the 
time, must act independently and organize his experi- 
ences in his own way. This seems to be the reason 
why nearly all children near the age of three years be- 
come more independent and usually show more or less 
contrariness. 

Sometimes individuality is developed without any dis- 
tinct break with other personalities, but very frequently 
there is a distinct period or at least occasional spells of 
contrariness. These may of course appear at any age 
when a child is not well or when he has been dealt with 
in an untactful way, so that his wishes seem directly 
opposed by those of another; but healthy children who 
are wisely dealt with often show contrariness during 
this period. The child has been imitating others and fol- 
lowing their suggestions so much that reaction seems 
necessary in order that the individual self that has just 
begun to appear shall not be lost in the common self. 
The more conscious form of the instinct of self-assertion 
therefore becomes active and the child, instead of doing 
as others do or as he is commanded, may do something 
different, usually the opposite, and rarely nothing. This 
may be done with a smile and with enjoyment of the 
novel experience of acting against, instead of in accor- 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 113 

dance with, suggestions. This may be more enjoyable and 
require less exercise of ideas and will than to do nothing, 
which is the condition in some forms of stubbornness. 
In many cases of so-called stubbornness, however, there 
is real inability to act instead of determination not to 
act. The actions of a child in the contrary stage may 
sometimes be directed just as effectively by contrary 
suggestions as they could in the former imitative stage 
by imitative suggestions. 

If the relations between the child and those around 
him have generally been pleasant and a consciousness 
in common with others has been well developed, this 
contrary stage may, and perhaps should, be very short, 
and with tact it may be passed through without un- 
pleasantness. The child finds by his own experience 
what works best and what does not. His individuality 
of feeling is allowed within certain limits free exercise 
and he begins to develop and act in the line of his own 
natural taste and aptitudes. A conscious individuality 
develops from the unconscious one of native tendencies 
and acquired habits and the common consciousness of 
the previous stage. His conscious self becomes a differ- 
entiated, self-active portion of the common conscious- 
ness of the family, without a distinct chasm being 
formed between himself and others. 

The child still imitates persons but it is in their ab- 
sence more than in their presence. In such cases he 
often plays that he is those persons. By thus pretending 
that he is what he is not, he realizes more fully what he 
really is. He also broadens his personality, and by 
making himself what he pleases, learns something of 
what self-control means and begins to form the kind of 
self that accords with his native endowments and gives 



114 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

the most pleasurable results. In actual experience he is 
likely to find that the sort of self that harmonizes its 
activities with those of other persons is most agreeable, 
and such a self is consciously chosen and developed, 
though when irritable, the self of an opposite type may 
be assumed. 

The above is probably the more usual development of 
conscious individuality under favorable home conditions. 
In a large number of cases, however, even when the 
common consciousness has been well developed and the 
child's own personality has been only temporarily in 
conflict with that of others, it often happens that in 
this critical stage of developing conscious individuality, 
sharp conflicts arise between the personality of the pa- 
rent and that of the child, and there may be a distinct 
break in the common consciousness, with more or less 
permanent establishment of a condition of cross pur- 
poses if not of actual antagonism. This result is often 
brought about in part by parents who suddenly decide 
that it is time for the child to learn to obey and begin 
treating him in an entirely different way from their 
former loving, playful manner. The parent may by 
punishment and rewards induce the child to obey, but 
may lose nearly or quite all of the influence he formerly 
exerted by means of the social factor of personal, con- 
scious suggestion. The child may come to care no- 
thing for approval or disapprobation, as such, of the 
parent, but only for what they signify in the way of re- 
sults to follow, or he may even delight in exciting dis- 
approval, especially if the results are not very painful. 
It is an enjoyable play or sometimes a means of retali- 
ation to stir up the one in authority and, in a way, make 
him perform. 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 115 

In the preceding period the child's emotional life re- 
ceived a strong impress from the home influences, but 
it is during this third period that the basis of active 
volitional character is formed and his general attitude 
toward authority determined. He learns what is ex- 
pected of him and forms ideals of conduct that may 
either accord with or oppose those expectations. 

If he has a strong personality, wise must be the 
treatment, if he is not to become a diminutive but suc- 
cessful outlaw and apparently a hardened criminal. If, 
on the other hand, the child has rather a passive per- 
sonality he may easily be developed by a stronger per- 
sonality either by approval or by force, into the 
semblance of an inoffensive, law-abiding citizen with 
regular habits, who conforms to the directions given him 
without question. 

A weak parent who tries to direct a child's action by 
precept and persuasion, may ere long find that the child, 
through having his personality recognized and his de- 
sires gratified, has developed his own personality so that 
he, instead of the adult, exercises the stronger influence, 
and his wishes determine the action of both. If the weak 
parent tries force but does not always succeed, the 
child, instead of being trained as the parent wishes, is 
developed by the exercise in the contrary direction. 
Such persons will often succeed better through example 
and incidental influence without attempting to control 
or mould the child in a direct way. 

A high degree of wisdom is necessary in order to pre- 
serve the common consciousness and at the same time 
allow the individuality of the child to have a free and 
full conscious development, rightly related to other per- 
sonalities. Details cannot be given but the following 



116 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

general statements may be made. (1) Unconscious 
I habits of the former period that are desirable must be 
I preserved. (2) A common consciousness must be main- 
( tained by engaging with the child in common activities 
I for common ends. (3) He must be allowed some degree 
of freedom of choice and action with opportunity to know 
I by his own experience what the results of his actions 
are. (4) He must be induced by physical force or by 
personal influence or by incidental or direct rewards or 
punishments to do those things that he would not 
otherwise do, that are necessary to his safety and the 
happiness of himself and others. The wiser and more 
tactful the parent the less prominent will be the last 
factor, but it probably cannot be entirely eliminated. 
The child needs to know of a person stronger than self 
against whom it is useless to fight. In other words he 
should learn obedience whenever it is demanded, which 
should be rarely. So far as possible obedience should 
bring pleasure rather than disobedience pain. Thus 
obedience will be most of the time not a mere habit or 
a conscious choice of alternatives but action in accord- 
ance with his own desires and interests. 

Illustrations of Contrariness. Boy of three yeais. 
Alternated between desire for approval and contrary 
action. He might call for something to eat, then refuse 
it; or he might eat, then declare he had not been given 
anything. Sometimes he said that he had " no papa, 
mamma or anybody." He sometimes transferred the 
contrary action, saying for example, "Mamma won't get 
me any supper," when she was at the time getting it. 
When put in another room after being punished for 
naughtiness he cried, and when told he could come out 
when he was a " nice boy " he said he was not nice and 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 117 

would not come out. Finally he said he was nice, came 
out and kissed his mother and was better for several 
days. It seemed in his case, during this period and later, 
that he must either be in complete harmony with his 
parents or in active opposition, but neuer indifferent. 
If given a little time the " nice boy " would often come 
again without any persistence in the wrong mood and 
action. After a naughty or contrary spell he was usu- 
ally much pleased when the " nice boy " came again. 
Sometimes a storm and some little punishment seemed 
necessary before he could get himself in the right atti- 
tude. 

One day when he was fussy at dinner and was finally 
sent out into the other room till the " nice boy " could 
come back, he went crying and saying he would never 
come back. After some time he opened the door and, 
apparently with an effort, smiled. He was welcomed 
and behaved very nicely. 

When contrary he would often refuse what he had 
just been asking for. One day he became contrary and 
said he would not go to have his picture taken al- 
though he had been wanting to go. His father acted as 
if he did not care, saying his sister could go. When he 
wanted to go down cellar with his father he would not 
let him go unless he was going with him down town. 
He said he would go and his father said he would like 
to have his " nice boy " with him, but did not want the 
other one. He went and was very good. 

When forty months old he struck a servant girl with 
a file and was told by his father to put it in the drawer. 
He threw it down in anger and stamped his foot. The 
command was repeated and, crying very hard, he obeyed. 
He was told to close the door and for a moment acted 



118 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

as if he would not, but did. He then sat down crying and 
was told that we could not hear the reading and to " go 
out till my nice boy is ready to come back." He went 
and got down on the floor and kicked around. His father 
closed the door and he cried angrily and presently 
kicked it. He was told to stop, and after crying a little 
longer opened the door and made a noise to attract at- 
tention, trying to look pleasant. When asked if he was 
" my nice boy " he nodded and got in his father's lap 
and put up his mouth to be kissed. 

For a time when about three and one-half he was 
quite variable, being loving one minute and contrary 
the next, instead of having a contrary spell and getting 
entirely over it and being very pleasant for some time. 
If his parents had no time to give him any attention 
and then refused him something, he often became con- 
trary. He was very loving when he could help them do 
something or when they played with him. 

Self and the Opinions of Others. Language during 
this period plays a scarcely less important part in the 
development of the conscious individuality of the child 
than it plays in the preceding stage in the development 
of ideas of things. Whatever phase of the child's con- 
duct receives a name, gains thereby a more prominent 
place in his consciousness, and his knowledge of the 
characteristic usually tends to increase rather than de- 
crease the kind of conduct with which it is associated. 
The naming of undesirable characteristics should there- 
fore be avoided as long as possible while desirable ones 
should be named as soon as they can be understood and 
should often be mentioned. Froebel very properly em- 
phasizes the naming of characteristics that are desirable 
as an important means of cultivating them. The effect 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 119 

is much the same and probably greater in degree than 
when the acts of other people are set before the child as 
models to be imitated. The child is really his own 
model and his self-imitations are serious rather than 
playful. 

If, besides being brought into clearer consciousness 
by being named, characteristics are ascribed to the 
child by the words and actions of those around him, 
he is likely to still further emphasize them in his actions 
and in his thoughts of himself. As we have already 
seen, the child in the preceding stage has his ideas of 
things moulded by the opinions of other people, so in 
this stage, when he is getting a clearer idea of his own 
individuality, he is guided not only by his observations 
of the difference between his conduct and that of others, 
but also by the opinions people express of him at this 
time, and the way in which they act toward him, as com- 
pared with their treatment of others. If they say he is 
timid, he acts according to that characteristic, unless he 
happens to be in a contrary mood ; if they say he is 
bold, he becomes bold ; if he is described as naughty, 
he lives up to the description. Such descriptions are 
especially effective if they are given to others in the 
child's hearing and apparently accepted by all. Great 
caution should therefore be exercised in speaking of a 
child in his presence. 

In general he has not at this time a sufficiently well- 
developed personality and power of will to think what 
his characteristics are, and then try to make himself 
different from what he is. Even at a much later period 
this is difficult or impossible to many persons. The 
thought of what one is has a greater influence than the 
thought of being different, unless one has a very clear 



120 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

idea of what is to be done in order to be different. It is 
much easier to think of the hind of act that should or 
should not be performed, and often has more effect upon 
conduct than to think of the hind of person one should 
^ be. The child may be told that a certain act of his is 
not the kind of act he should perform. This is far less 
objectionable than to speak of him as having the evil 
characteristic the act implies. It is better, however, to 
emphasize the acts that are to be performed, rather than 
those that are to be avoided, the undesirable one being 
referred to chiefly in such a way as to bring out more 
clearly the good acts that are to be performed. 

There is no doubt that a large proportion of the cases 
of children described as " born short " or " born long " 
in one respect or another, are due to imfortunate blun- 
ders or marked successes that have attended early efforts 
and have been developed into permanent deficiencies or 
talents by being recognized and treated as permanent 
characteristics, leading the child in one case to decrease 
effort in the line of activity that is described as weak 
and in the other to increase it. For example, a boy of 
seven who was told he had no musical ability ceased 
trying to sing or to distinguish tunes, and for many 
years did not distinguish one tune from another, although 
his musical ear was not so defective as was supposed. 

Wishes and Ideals. Rather early in this period of 
individualism, the child begins to form ideals, not only of 
what he would like to have and what he wants to do, 
but of what he wishes to be. These ideals are formed 
in accordance with what seems pleasant to him in fancy 
or has been learned by experience, or through the 
teaching of parents, or has been associated with ap- 
proval. In fancy, the child becomes the possessor of all 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 121 

desirable things, performs aU sorts of acts and assumes 
various powers and characteristics. He learns by ex- 
perience something of the possibilities of obtaining, 
doing, and being, has certain results emphasized by 
those around him and hears many directions as to what 
he should do. The ideals formed in this early stage 
play a considerable part in the child's conduct and 
development as is indicated by the following examples. 
Although the ideals frequently change and do not al- 
ways control action even when stoutly held, yet the 
effects of ideals during this period may be greater 
than at any other period except that of adolescence. 

Illustrations. A boy of about three was often induced 
to do what he feared or disliked to do by the ideal of 
being " Papa's joUy boy," " Papa's helper," or a " sol- 
dier " or a " nice boy." 

When three and one-quarter years old, having shut 
the door hard one day, he said, *' I guess I had better 
do that again," and did so carefully. 

Once when he was tired and wanted his father to 
carry him, he was told, " If you are going to be my 
little ' mountain boy ' you must learn to walk farther 
than this." He said in an undertone, " You always say 
that," then said, " I will," and started ahead. He walked 
the rest of the way, about half a mile, without com- 
plaint. 

Yf hen a little more than four, after a good time 
playing, he talked about himself and others being good 
and keeping on getting better till "we get to be as 
good as God." 

The story of a boy who was as " brave as his papa" 
is as great an incentive to courage as was the " Boy in 
the attic " story a few months earlier. For several days 



122 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

he tried to carry out his ideal of making " everybody 
happy." 

He planned for a gun and some cartridges when he 
should be twelve years old, and was going to work for 
the money, but the ideal was too remote and big to 
make him work at small tasks. He did not care to earn 
money except when he wanted to buy something cost- 
ing the exact amount to be earned. 

When four years old he said, " I am going to be 
braver and braver till I get to be as brave as papa." 
Soon afterward he hurt himself, and as he choked back 
his sobs he said, '' I pretty near did n't cry a bit." A 
little later, influenced by the same ideal, he went in a 
dark room, though much afraid. He readily catches the 
moral of a story and says, " I am going to be brave," or, 
" I am going to be like that." He often wishes he were 
grandma, a baby, a kitty, an Eskimo, or somebody or 
something else, sometimes giving as a reason, a privi- 
lege, pleasure or power he would then have. 

At four and one-half he said, " Don't you wish one 
arm was longer than the other?" ("Why?") "So 
you could use the long arm for long things and the 
short arm for short things." Probably he meant dis- 
tances. 

When five, at a time when he was more thoughtful 
than usual, he said he was going to drive the bad 
thoughts away and let the good ones come in. He told 
about sitting down in a chair at a store while waiting 
for his turn to buy something he had been sent for, and 
he got up when a lady or a little girl came in to see if 
they did not want the seat. " A little thought just 
seemed to make me do it." 

A picture of Sir Galahad and stories of knights and 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 123 

readings from Tennyson were much appreciated at this 
time and helped form his ideals. 

He came one day to his mother, much pleased with 
this generalization : " Now, mamma, I will tell you some- 
thing. I just found out that it is more fun to be good 
than it is to be bad." 

Between five and five and one-half he was fond of 
making rules for himself and finally made this one : 
" Now, mamma, I have made a rule that I think ought 
to be a great comfort to you. I am going to be good all 
the time." 

He sometimes adhered to ideals several days, or even 
weeks, but when ill or fatigued or crossed he was likely 
to have a spell of contrariness. 

Boy of six. In praying said, " Dear Father, I Ve been 
so bad for five or six weeks, now help me to be good 
for five or six weeks, so I can have some candy and to 
make up." 

Girl of four. After hearing a story about " Sally 
Smiles and Dolly Dumps " tries to be pleasant. Some- 
times says, " Dolly Dumps has gone," or *' Sally Smiles 
has come." 

Girl of four. Made New Year resolution when others 
were making them, "Not to talk loudly or be cross." 
At about this time she said, " I wish I could be a baby 
again and not grow up." (" Why ? ") " So I would n't 
have any dollies to take care of." (" You don't have to 
take care of them.") " But they want me to take care 
of them. You ask my baby if she don't want me to take 
care of her." 

Self-Direction. During this period of self-assimila- 
tion of the experience of the former period, and of in- 
dividualization, a large amount of healthy letting alone 



124 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

is probably the thing most needed by a large propor- 
tion of children. Some direction by older people and 
some association with children of their own age are 
desirable, but a considerable portion of the day should 
be free from definite direction by others. 

The child should have opportunity and facilities for 
a great variety of play, and some suggestions as to 
what may be done, but he should be urged to act in 
specific ways, or prevented from acting in other ways, 
only so far as is necessary for his own present good and 
the comfort of those around him. Little or no attempt 
should be made to immediately modify him according 
to adult standards of what he should be. Conditions 
should be made unfavorable for the repetition of bad 
acts and should be favorable for the continuance of good 
habits and the formation of others, but the child should 
be actively directed by some one else, only a limited 
part of the time. Many of the directions may be mere 
suggestions, yet quick and instant obedience may be 
required with advantage, in certain cases. 

In this kindergarten age Froebel very properly em- 
phasizes self -activity, but in a large proportion of kinder- 
gartens almost the whole of the supposed self-activity 
of the children is either intentionally or unintentionally 
excited and directed by the teacher. The condition is 
well expressed by a little girl who, when asked about 
her first day in the kindergarten, said, " I wanted to do 

the things Miss wanted me to, but I did n't want 

to do them." In many cases, of course, the children are 
not clearly aware that they want to do things simply 
through the teacher's influence, yet such is frequently 
the case. 

The kindergarten also properly emphasizes the pro- 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 125 

duction and preservation of a common consciousness 
with others in the group, as has been the case in the 
home, but it often overemphasizes this phase at a time 
when individualization of the self should be the promi- 
nent feature in development. It is too early to develop 
social feeling as it exists in adults, and there should be 
little more done in a social way than to widen the com- 
mon family consciousness so as to include that of the 
kindergarten group, while the individual consciousness 
is being organized in accordance with native tendencies 
and acquired experience, with incidental suggestions 
from the example of others and a few positive require- 
ments. The higher form of social development can come 
only after the development of conscious individuality 
and a long period of association with other personalities 
in the same stage, involving competition and opposition, 
as well as cooperation. The crude common consciousness 
and dependence of the child upon the group cannot at 
this stage be developed into a genuine and permanent 
form of cooperative feeling and acting, as some kinder- 
garteners seem to think. The kindergarten spirit, so 
beautiful to see and feel in the kindergarten, is only a 
temporary heaven that cannot exist outside. It can take 
on an enduring form only at a later stage, after compe- 
tition with other individualities. 

It is worth while to prolong the sympathetic common 
consciousness of family life and broaden it in the kin- 
dergarten, but to attempt to push on the process of 
social development in this direction at this stage, is use- 
less. It is also a fine thing to give children who are in 
homes where a common consciousness is not felt, a 
glimpse of this heaven that has been denied them in the 
home, that it may later serve as a symbol of the highest 



126 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

social and religious ideals. So long as children of only 
three or four are in the kindergarten, the emphasis upon 
this side, if not too great, is salutary, but for older child- 
ren who should be acquiring a stronger individuality, 
the results are often nil or undesirable. 

Children undoubtedly at this stage need some new 
experience, some incidental influence of others and some 
intentional direction, but the periods should be short 
with long intervals in which the child may mentally go 
over them, and in dramatic and constructive activity 
may combine them with older experiences. 

Mischief at this time is not usually best prevented by 
keeping the child busy at tasks, but by arranging his 
surroundings so far as possible so that he can do as he 
pleases and not seriously harm himself or anything. 
Some one at hand a large part of the time ready to take 
the lead, suggest and direct, is probably a distinct dis- 
advantage at this stage. The child, if healthy, is sure to 
be active a large part of the time, and what he does of 
himseK and in natural association with other children, 
gives better training than positive direction by an adult ; 
yet an adult who knows how to lead can by occasional 
suggestions give the proper trend to the child's whole 
moral development. 

The best test of what is done for children during this 
period, either in the kindergarten or elsewhere, is the 
extent to which the things they have done under direc- 
tion, influence their play activities when they are en- 
tirely free from the dominating personality and sugges- 
tions of the one who has directed them. No matter how 
great the seeming utility of what is being done during 
directed activity, it belongs (if at all valuable) to 
another period of development, if it does not modify the 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 127 

child's activities when left to himself, after the period 
of directed activity is over. The child's business at this 
time is not to learn to know and do things that will be 
helpful in adult activities, but to develop his own per- 
sonality by assimilating, according to his interests, his 
various experiences, by some form of active doing and 
imagining. 

Learning to Distinguish and Express the Truth. 
On the intellectual side, this period of forming con- 
scious individuality is a period of forming ideas and 
standards of truth. The child has become acquainted 
with things and persons well enough to know what to 
expect from them separately, and has acquired a lan- 
guage by which ideas of them may be aroused in his 
mind and the minds of others, but of the more complex 
relations of things to each other and the reasons for 
bringing them into certain relations and the means of 
doing so, he as yet knows little. It is in getting this 
knowledge that he asks his multitudinous questions. 
The questions are now no longer chiefly, " What is 
that ? " but " What is that f or ? " " Why do you do that ? " 
" How do you do that ? " In thus questioning he is 
learning both the laws of the physical world and of 
human conduct. The answers to these questions the 
child can often get more quickly from others, but more 
effectively from experience and imitation. The process 
is a slow one if he learns only by his own experiences, 
but the knowledge gained from what others say is often 
superficial, if it is not supplemented by experience. 
To fail to answer the child's questions severs an im- 
portant bond of union with him and delays his mental 
development, but to answer his questions so continually 
and so completely that he comes to depend upon others 



128 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

for what he can more effectually acquire for himself, is 
unfortunate, tending to make him limit his observation 
and become theoretically rather than practically wise. 

Sometimes the asking of questions becomes such a 
confirmed habit that the child does it when he has 
nothing else to do and has no real interest in the 
answers, further than to keep up communication with 
some one. Children who go to excess in asking ques- 
tions instead of acting and reflecting for themselves, 
have their thoughts moulded for them, and, therefore, 
have few of the quaint and original ideas that often 
constitute the charm of this period and would be of 
still greater interest if we knew just what was passing 
in the minds of these seemingly less inquisitive and ex- 
pressive children. 

This is a time when the influence of others is best 
exercised upon the imagination of the child. Much of 
what he does when alone is suggested by what he has 
seen others do. His imitative plays, both when alone 
and when in company with other children, are directed 
by what he has seen. In thus acting out what interests 
him he acquires control over the characteristics he as- 
sumes and enlarges and organizes his own active per- 
sonality. He becomes in some degree all he imitates, and 
by original and dramatic combinations of his observa- 
tions, in his play, increases his own mental experience. 

In the early stage of individualization the child, 
though realizing his own individuality to a greater ex- 
tent, does not as yet separate it from a common con- 
sciousness in which others share. He may not know 
that other people do not know what he is doing or 
thinking. It is a very interesting experience when he 
realizes that he can have little secrets known only to 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 129 

himself. " Did you see me ? " is often for a while a 
frequent question. He delights not only in having 
special knowledge but in revealing it, thus giving some- 
thing back to other minds or to the common conscious- 
ness from which he has hitherto been only a receiver. 
It is partly for this reason that he enjoys, a little later, 
telling news and in general expressing whatever ideas 
come to him. 

The child is often not sure of his observations or the 
language in which he expresses them until his state- 
ment is accepted or endorsed by some one else. For this 
reason many children insist on some kind of a reply to 
every remark, e. g., " That is a big dog, is n't it ? " 
" He is going home, is n't he ? " 

Previous to this there may have been more or less 
instinctive concealments and deceptions, but now, when 
the child realizes that others were not present when he 
did something or may not know what is in his mind, con- 
scious deception is possible and almost sure to appear 
in some form. It may be in a play form in which the 
child tries to mislead some one for fun. This is really 
one type of imaginative play that is of great help in 
distinguishing between the true and false. This power 
of distinguishing, of course, also makes it possible for 
the child to become a conscious liar or a conscious truth- 
teUer instead of merely expressing what comes into his 
mind without really knowing whether it is an image of 
actual experience or not. 

When a child not only knows what is true and what 
is not, but knows by experience when he can probably 
deceive people, he may and very probably will at- 
tempt to do so when some pain or loss is likely to come 
from expressing the truth. In other words, deceiving is 



130 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

then no longer a play, but a means of avoiding unde- 
sirable consequences and securing those that are desir- 
able, and hence is real lying. If he tries this means and 
it works well, he of course continues to use it. If he is 
in very sympathetic relations with others, the deception 
makes a break in their common consciousness that is 
uncomfortable and leads to confession, but if he is not 
in such relation there is no reason whatever evident to 
his consciousness why he should not use deception for 
his own ends, just as he uses any other power he has 
acquired. Under conditions of antagonism to others 
and of greater or less success in deceit, he becomes a 
habitual liar in spite of occasional punishment. He may 
say, as he has been told, that lies are wrong, but still 
regard them as useful. This was, perhaps, unconsciously 
expressed by a boy who defined a lie as "an abomina- 
tion to the Lord and an ever present help in time of 
trouble." 

Sometimes the habitual liar is one who has never 
learned to distinguish between memory and imagina- 
tion, while in other cases he has distinguished between 
them, but for ends of his own has substituted one for 
the other, both in words and actions, until he has be- 
come incapable of discriminating clearly between the 
two. In other cases the discrimination remains clear 
and a good memory and power of dissimulation are ac- 
quired as a matter of necessity, in order to be success- 
ful as a liar and accomplish his ends among people who 
speak the truth. 

In reasonably favorable surroundings the child who 
tries lying finds that, though it sometimes works well or 
works for a time, yet unpleasant results come either in 
the form of punishment, ridicule or disturbance of so- 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 131 

cial relations with others, so that he gives it up except 
under unusual stress of fear or desire. Deception is the 
principal means of defence of weak creatures, whether 
human or animal, when exposed to danger from the 
strong. Fear is the principal cause of lying becoming a 
habit. Without it most children would find truth -tell- 
ing more serviceable and satisfactory. 

Lying and truth-teUing are very important activities 
in the development of the moral sentiments. They bring 
into clearer consciousness the child's relations to others. 
In much of his conduct when others are not present, 
there is the thought of how others would view the ac- 
tion, and according as the child thinks the conduct 
would be approved or disapproved does he have an im- 
pulse to reveal or conceal it. His feeling of the ap- 
proval or disapproval of others becomes his conscience. 
This conscience becomes stronger and enlightened in 
proportion as sympathetic relations are maintained and 
free communication kept up between parent and child. 
It becomes weak or perverted in proportion as sympathy 
is destroyed and the ideas and feelings of each toward 
the other are misunderstood and misrepresented. 

It is as important for a child's intellectual develop- 
ment that he shall learn to distinguish clearly between 
real experiences with persons and things, and those that 
he images, as it is for his moral development that he 
should act and speak in accordance with what he knows 
to be real. The way in which the child gains such abil- 
ity is surprising and instructive. It is in general the 
method of playing that things are not what they are 
and thus bringing into contrast the real and the imagi- 
nary. 

One of the most interesting ways in which this is 



132 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

done is in connection with imaginary companions. 
Striking cases of imaginary companionship, when first 
described in print, were supposed to be exceptional and 
confined to imaginative children who were alone a great 
deal. Further study, however, shows that nearly all 
children have such companions at some time and that 
being by themselves merely gives such personalities 
greater prominence and more permanency. In some cases 
they are continued for years, sometimes into adult life, 
the characteristics of the imaginary personages develop- 
ing and changing as their creator grows older. 

In an imaginative child who is alone a good deal or 
whose companions are not congenial, a semi-pathological 
condition may result, in which the subjective factor of 
conscious selection becomes so strong that the creations 
of fancy maintain themselves against the importunities 
of sense perception, so that the imaginary is accepted as 
the real and the individual becomes subject to hallucina- 
tions, as was Joan of Arc. All play of children involves 
this setting up of the imaginary in place of the real, 
but active play and contact with people furnish a natu- 
ral correction of this tendency, which is dangerous only 
to the quiet, lonely brooder. 

To the child who not only imagines but acts out and 
tests his imagining, the contrast between what is im- 
aged and what is sensed, develops both his imagination 
and his power of accurate perception. The child who 
actually tastes the mud pie he has made is strongly im- 
pressed with the difference between his imaginings and 
his sensations. If he does not taste it he lacks the sen- 
sations that he remembers accompanied the act of eat- 
ing a real pie and thus feels the difference between the 
remembered and the imaginary pie. The more he ob- 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 133 

serves and then imitates in dramatic play, the more 
frequently is he impressed with the difference between 
real and imaginary experiences. So long, therefore, as 
a child acts out his imaginings regarding objects, there 
is not only no danger of his becoming " too imagina- 
tive " but a certainty that he is getting a good basis for 
knowing the truth by learning the difference betv/een 
the imagined, the remembered and the objectively real. 

The growing power of the conscious life is, however, 
strikingly shown by the fact that the imaginary can be 
made to dominate over the real sufficiently to give de- 
light during a long period of play. Only what is agree- 
able is permitted to survive in consciousness during this 
play time. It is during this period that the joys of im- 
agination first become greater than those of real experi- 
ence. 

The case with regard to persons is much the same as 
regards things. The child tries to act like some one else 
but usually feels the difference. He imagines other per- 
sons doing and saying certain things but knows that 
the real persons act and talk differently. In the case of 
his imaginary companions, however, he has more com- 
plete control and hence often greatly enjoys them, but 
when he occasionally plays with real children he is 
newly impressed with the difference between his imagi- 
nary playmates and the real ones who are slower and 
less conformable to his wishes, and thus he naturally 
distinguishes between the imaginary and the real. If in 
contact with othe^ persons he is also impressed with the 
difference between the imaginary and the real by the 
fact that other people generally ignore the imaginary ob- 
ject or companion while they recognize the real. Some- 
times the child is angered by this because in the absence 



134 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

of a social support his imaginary situation cannot sur- 
vive. Tins is the reason why some children engage in 
imaginative play, only when with some other child who 
will act as if the play were real. If not angered at being 
called Johnny when in imagination he is the " big In- 
dian chief ' Eagle Feather,' " the child may correct the 
speaker and try to get his support for the pleasant 
illusion. 

It is thus by the constant contrast between the real 
and imaginary in the child's plays that he becomes 
capable of knowing the truth in a far more accurate and 
intimate way than he would if his imagination were 
used only in representing in memory what has actually 
occurred. He is far less likely to believe a thing simply 
because he wants to believe it, for he has done that too 
often to be deceived. He is not so ready to accept the 
opinions of others as to whether things possess the char- 
acteristics named, because he has often compared his 
perceptions with his images. His testimony will be 
more reliable because he has probably more often dis- 
tinguished between memory images and free images. 
He is ready to appreciate figures of speech without 
taking them literally, a thing almost impossible to one 
who has never engaged in imaginative play, and he is 
quick at getting the "moral" of imaginative literature 
of all kinds ; hence in this playful and perhaps, to the 
methodical teacher, seemingly absurd way, he becomes 
a keen discerner of truth. 

In contrast to such a child is the one who has had 
little or no imaginative play but has early been initiated 
into the hard facts of practical life, in which objects 
and activities are not for one's pleasure but are means 
to practical ends. He is likely to become a good worker, 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 135 

literal, matter-of-fact, and totally unable to understand 
playful activities, comprehend figures of speech or ap- 
preciate imaginative literature. His practical judgment 
may be good as regards things dealt with in a perceptual 
motor way, but he can do little with imagined situations 
and cannot understand the motives and actions of per- 
sons differing from himself, as can the child of the pre- 
ceding type who has in imagination been a score of 
different characters, had thousands of experiences not 
produced by his environment, and countless opportuni- 
ties to discriminate between the real and the fanciful. 

Illustrations of Imagination. A girl of three and a 
quarter wanted to make a pie, and was satisfied with 
rolling a piece of paper and putting it in the oven. Later 
she wanted it served at dinner. 

She piled up some blocks to make what she called 
"beds." 

She wanted some men in a picture to get up. 

She said, " I play bear is coming and run quick be- 
fore baby comes " (apparently baby was the bear). 

She acted out her imagination to the extent of putting 
sand into her mouth for food and chewing pieces of 
cloth for candy. 

She treats a stuffed cat and a stuffed horse as if they 
were babies, feeding them and putting them to bed 
when they "don't feel well." 

Boy from two and one-half to three and one-half, 
often talked of an imaginary personage that he called 
"My policeman," who was to him a friend with great 
powers who did all sorts of wonderful things. "My 
policeman won't buy you any candy" ; " My policeman 
does n't spiU things " ; " My policeman could lift that " ; 
" Once I fell in the river and my policeman pulled me 



136 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

out and took me home with him and gave me something 
to eat." " My policeman helped me when I was lost in 
the snow/' These and similar stories were told to his 
sister who applauded them. He was ready to assert that 
his policeman could do anything that was mentioned, 
affirming, for example, that he could eat a cream pitcher 
when his sister suggested that. 

One morning he inquired for his policeman as if he 
were lost and later repeated the inquiry and answer to 
his sister. Perhaps he had temporarily lost the power 
to imagine him, but he appeared to be present again 
later in the day. At this time he often called himself 
by the name of some one he knew, or wanted to be 
called "pony" or "mousie." 

Once he said he had " lots of policemen." Sometimes 
he affirmed that his policeman told him to do certain 
things or not to do them. Later there again seemed to 
be a whole, family of his policemen as he talked with his 
sister, and finally this family seemed to correspond to 
his own, yet with more surprising adventures and greater 
powers and remarkable possessions. His imagination was 
greatly helped by his sister's sympathetic questioning. 
Later, one member of the family seemed to be his sister 
idealized, but of the same age and nearly the same name. 

He also talked about his imaginary kindergarten, 
sometimes telling his sister when he was not pleased 
with her that she could not go to his kindergarten or 
to his policeman's house. Playing with a boy who did 
not encourage his " policeman " imaginings as did his 
sister probably led to less talk about him. He showed 
much interest in real policemen, wanting to speak to 
them but being shy. Perhaps this also decreased the 
tendency to imagine. 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 137 

A girl not quite three years old began talking about 
" my little girl." One day sbe said, " Must be a good 
little girl this morning," then looking up at her mother 
she said, " I talking to my little girl." When asked the 
name of her little girl she said " Stella." A lady had a 
few days before spoken of her little girl by that name. 
She then asked her mother's name, and when asked 
hers she gave the same name, and when told her name 

was M , said, " My name Stella." It seemed that 

sometimes she identified the imaginary girl with herself 
and at others regarded her as being in the same rela- 
tion to herself as she is to her mother. 

At dinner the next day she held her head down and 
said something, then to her mother, " I talking to my 
little girl." Later, she moved over on the window sill 
and said, " Sit here, little girl." When using scissors to 
clean her nails she said, " I clean your nails too, little 
girl." Soon she began sticking the scissors into the car- 
pet and said, " I clean my little girl's toe nails." 

A few days later she said, " I bring my little girl in," 

and when asked her name said, " Miss K " (using 

her own last name). She then went out as if holding 
something in her hand. When questioned about the 
size of her little girl, she indicated a length a little 
more than an inch. Some papers had been disturbed 
and when questioned about them she said, " My little 
girl do it." 

Some days later she spoke of some one crying and 
said it was her " little girl," and in reply to a question, 
said she was on the bed. Asked why she was crying she 
replied, " She is hungry, get her some bread." When 
given some and told to give it to her, she started as if 
to do so, then said, " I can't. You give it to her." Per- 



138 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

haps her imagination failed her so she did not know 
how to carry the play further. 

A few days later when something was said about 
fixing the carriage she said, " My little girl break that." 
Again, upon laying something down she said, " 'Fraid 
my little girl get that." 

While looking at the image in the glass she said, 
" Little girl in there. Little girl can't come out." 

Some days later her uncle asked to see her little girl 

and she went out in the yard calling, " C wants to 

see you," held out her hand and came toward the house 
as if leading some one. When she got in the house she 
opened her hand and said her little girl had gone to 
town. 

Two months later she told a story saying that a man 
broke her little girl all up with a rake, and that a man 
cut her little girl all to pieces. Then she spoke of the 
similar fate of her " little boy," " kitty," etc., as her 
imagination became active, all apparently being imagi- 
nary creatures. She said her little girl and boy were 
dead. After this she said little more about them. 

Illustrations of Deception. Boy forty months. In- 
clined to tell what was not true, including denial of 
mischief, but when told " Think now," he usually gave 
the correct statement. 

A little later he took some candy and denied it. 
When sent into the dining-room to think it over, he 
took some sugar and denied that he had done so. He 
was sent to the parlor till he was ready to tell. After 
crying a while he came out and said, " I ate something 
white, but it was n't sugar." When asked what it was 
he said, " Pax." He was sent back and cried a good 
deal. He was afraid as it got dark, and was allowed a 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 139 

light. He became hungry and sleepy but would not tell 
for about two hours. Something was then said about 
spanking him if he did not tell and he said he would 
whisper it. This was allowed and he whispered it to his 
father, then to his mother, and was very happy, saying, 
" I will always tell you just what I do. Nice boys do 
that." 

After being in mischief several times at three and 
one-half years, he seemed for a while to think not of 
what he had been told but of whether he had been seen, 
often saying, " Did you see me ? " or answering, " Don't 
you know?" 

There was no prolonged contest regarding truth-tell- 
ing after this time, although he was punished once or 
twice for telling falsehoods by having his mouth washed 
out. After this rather brief period of transgression and 
discipline he could always be relied upon to tell the 
truth. 

Memory. It is only after a child has acquired a 
number of free ideas and become more definitely con- 
scious of himself, that true memory is possible. Mem- 
ory activity of the higher type is frequently very prom- 
inent in children four or five years of age. They delight 
not only in recalling incidents which occurred in an 
earlier stage, but in thinking more definitely of their 
own relation to them, evidently contrasting not only the 
incidents with the present experiences, but the self 
that then was with the somewhat different self that 
now is. 

Few people in adult life retain conscious memories 
of events that occurred before the close of the third 
year, while the majority of people retain at least a 
few memories of events occurring at from three to five 



140 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

years of age. Very rarely individuals remember events 
that occurred before the close of the second year, while 
a few remember nothing that occurred earlier than 
seven years of age. In some respects memory activity 
in its purest form may be said to be at its maximum at 
four or five years of age. 

Memory ideas are then perhaps more like the origi- 
nal experiences than they are with older people, who 
usually fill out the memory image to a large extent by 
their knowledge of what must have been, or would natu- 
rally be expected, if certain things were seen or done ; 
e. g., a person in describing a fire or other exciting ex- 
perience tells what it now seems reasonable to have done 
rather than what he did do, while ordinary experiences 
are described according to one's habits rather than 
according to actual memories. When one says, " I 
dressed, washed and came down to breakfast," he prob- 
ably has in most cases no real memory of the acts de- 
scribed but merely a knowledge of his usual custom. 

At an early stage of memory the child is to a consid- 
erable extent unable to appreciate events which occurred 
either when he was asleep or when for any reason he was 
not observing what took place. He is often quite siire 
that what he did not see did not happen. The fact that 
objects have changed their relations to each other while 
he was asleep, and the explanations given by others of 
how these changes took place, are an important means 
of enabling him to accept and appreciate events that he 
has not witnessed, and of giving him faith in the mem- 
ories of other people. 

Contrary, however, to what we might expect, the 
child is at first more influenced by others in his percep- 
tions than he is in his memories. His memory images 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 141 

are so vivid and so little contradicted by anything else 
in his consciousness, that it seems to him that they must 
be the truth, and perhaps the whole truth. 

The child's dream experiences are often for a long 
time quite puzzling to him. They seem real to him 
at the time and when they are recalled he has no means 
of knowing that they are not memories of real experi- 
ences, unless he notices that they are not like experiences 
he has really had, or unless he finds that objects and 
persons are not and could not have been in the rela- 
tions indicated by his memory representations. Even if 
such contradictions occur to him, he may often be puz- 
zled at this time and perhaps occasionally for years, to 
tell whether the reproduced experiences are of his wak- 
ing life or his sleep. He inevitably accepts as true what- 
ever is not contradicted by other ideas, but it may be 
a long time before he is able to solve the contradictions 
that do arise. 

It is in trying to solve such contradictions that he is 
induced to question his memory images and to test them 
by comparison with the actual and the possible and by 
inquiry as to the experiences of others. 

Even in adult life, if one has a dream, the scene of 
which is located in the room in which he is sleeping, he 
may find it difficult to tell whether he is recalling a 
dream or a real experience. He can only determine the 
matter by seeing whether objects have been moved as 
represented in the dream, or by inquiring of other per- 
sons whether they heard or saw anything correspond- 
ing to his dream. For a little time, however, the child 
does little testing of his memory images by present 
facts and the testimony of others. He accepts as true 
what is represented most vividly and only to a slight 



142 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

extent does he fill out the picture with knowledge of 
what is probable. 

Memory is at this time, even more than ordinarily, 
concerned with the occasional and the unusual. That 
which is repeated day after day in much the same way 
has little place in conscious memory. Adults, when 
questioned as to their early memories, are likely to re- 
port incidents that occurred only once or rarely. They 
are incidents usually associated with pain or pleasure 
or emotional excitement of some kind, especially with 
feelings of surprise or fright. 

There is good reason to believe, however, that al- 
though habitual incidents come to the foreground to a 
very slight extent, they are, notwithstanding, of pro- 
found importance in memory activity, especially at this 
time when the activities of the memory are being or- 
ganized. In order that there may be occasional events 
to be remembered it is necessary that there shall be 
habitual experiences with which they are associated and 
contrasted. These habitual experiences constitute an 
important part of the self that remembers. They also 
become an important knowledge supplement to memory 
so that we can describe objects and events that we have 
not specifically noticed and hence could not have re- 
membered; e.g., we know that a letter was answered 
and are sure of what we wrote largely because the let- 
ter is in the place where answered letters are kept and 
because of our usual way of replying to such letters. 
Habits serve at this time and later as an effective 
means of locating experiences. A child associates an 
experience with some habitual activity such as dressing, 
going to bed or eating dinner. If these activities are 
performed at about the same time every day and have 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 143 

certain incideDts always associated with them, they be- 
come important points of reference, by means of which 
the child can locate events which he recalls. 

It usually takes the child some time to distinguish 
between morning and evening, and still longer to dis- 
tinguish the different meals from each other. He learns 
to do this not so much by the difference in the things 
themselves, as in what he usually does before and after. 
Until some such points of reference have been estab- 
lished in the child's mind, he has no way of locating as 
to time, even the events of the day. Until he can do 
this, his memory is of course lacking in a characteristic 
that is quite essential in adults. The differences in the 
seasons and perhaps the greatly modified experiences 
of Sundays and holidays sometimes serve as points of 
reference for events occurring a longer time in the 
past. Often, yesterday means any time in the past, and 
to-morrow any time in the future. It is evident, there- 
fore, that the child's location of events in time, for a 
long period, remains very indefinite and unreliable. 

It is also clear that a fixed system of habits is a valuable 
basis for a reliable memory. It is helpful not only in 
remembering past events and in locating them, but in 
enabKng one to think of future events at the right 
time, by thinking of what one is likely to be doing 
then, and associating the thing to be done with that ; 
e. g., " I will think about that errand when I go to the 
closet for my coat, when I start home." 

At this stage the associations of similarity begin to 
have an important place in the child's memories. In the 
earlier stage of memory, things are called by words or 
objects and then other events associated with them come 
to mind ; now, however, it is not necessary that any part 



144 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

of an experience shall be brought to mind in order that 
the rest may be recalled. The child readily recalls experi- 
ences in no way connected with what is now happen- 
ing, except by some similarity in the experiences as 
a whole or in some part. When he hears the experi- 
ences of others he delights in recalling and relating 
any similar experience that he has had or heard of. 
This makes it possible for him to notice what is 
usually true of certain kinds of experiences, even though 
they are widely separated in time and have occurred to 
several individuals. By such acts of memory he acquires 
an extensive stock of general truths by which he tests 
his future memories. 

In this stage the child has almost no power of vol- 
untary memory ; his memory is almost as completely 
subject to external direction as were his actions in an 
earlier stage. He may be utterly unable to tell what he 
knows, in answer to a question, unless it directly sug- 
gests something associated very closely with what he is 
to recall. He has a rich store of memory materials and 
under skillfully directed questions or suggestions these 
are brought to light in such numbers and detail as to 
rival and perhaps in some respects to surpass the 
memory of adults, who often fail to notice many things 
that impress the child; but often he cannot at will recall 
specific parts of experiences. 

The child during this period can usually remember 
and express in words incidents he has observed, though 
it is often difficult to get from his accounts any clear 
idea of the order or the time of events. He also learns 
jingles, rhymes, and stories by heart, but cannot as a 
rule tell a story he has heard if he cannot remember 
almost the exact words. 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 145 

Illustrations of Time Ideas and Memories. Boy of 

three years. His mother having promised to make candy 
" to-morrow," did so and as she gave it to him he said, 
"Is this to-morrow?" "No." And he said, " Then are 
you going to make candy again to-morrow ? " 

He was greatly puzzled by the fact that his birthday 
was gone, but that he had his birthday presents yet. 

A girl of three wanted something " to-morrow, now." 
At another time, after being told that her feet grew 
when the rest of her did, she wanted " to have seen 
them grow." 

Girl of three and one-third years used "last sum- 
mer " to indicate distant dates and " last night " the 
more recent ones. 

A boy of four was much bothered by the word " to- 
morrow " and to distinguish from more distant dates 
would for a long time, when told of something that was 
to occur " to-morrow," ask, "Is it the day after this?" 

Boy of thirty-nine months often speaks of events at 
" little grandma's " where he was several months ago. 
In many cases he is known to be correct while in others 
he probably is, but others who were there do not re- 
member. 

When a young lady came who had been at his home 
six months before, he asked her to bury a can in the 
sand, telling her how she had done it when there before. 

He gave the following correct account of events that 
had occurred four months before. " Mamma was gone 

to Boston and I was at Mrs. B 's and you gave 

me a ride on your bicycle. Mrs. B took me home 

when mamma was come. You was n't there (at B's) at 
dinner. You was gone home. I don't know where 
grandma was." 



146 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

A girl of four was able to say the whole of the story 
of Peter Rabbit as the leaves of the book were turned. 
Another girl not quite so old was able to correct any 
mistake in the reading of " The Pied Piper," although 
she could not repeat the poem. 

Imagination and Standard Images. This is preemi- 
nently the period in which imaginative activity domi- 
nates, although it begins in the preceding period and 
remains prominent in the succeeding. The child plays 
with his images and uses them for his own purposes 
just as he at an earlier period played with objects. It 
is also a period of story interest, when the child not only 
enjoys picturing what is related, but delights to make 
little stories and songs of his own. In living in the 
story world of fancy he has the freedom and pleasure 
that is denied him in the world of fact, where things 
are in accordance with definite fixed laws, regardless of 
his wishes. At first he simply enjoys the events which 
he and others picture, but later he is led to compare 
these represented scenes with real ones. 

In developing his own personality by his imaginings 
and his dramatic plays, the child forms and establishes 
more closely and firmly typical or standard ideas of the 
objects concerned. At the same time he is gaining from 
those around him more definite and usable standards of 
reference. 

In addition to choosing as the standard form of objects 
the clearest appearance, into which all other appear- 
ances may be translated, thus enabling him to recog- 
nize objects in any position, he also acquires clearer 
ideas of the appearances of many objects, when seen at 
various distances. His color perceptions also become 
standardized, so that he thinks of a certain type of red 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 147 

or blue when those words are named. He gains more 
definite ideas of the usual or standard size of many 
objects, and is surprised if they are unusually large or 
small. He also distinguishes qualities, such as sweet, 
sour, good, hard, more definitely. 

He also learns to know a little of conventional stand- 
ards of time, value, distance and quantity. The terms 
day, dollar, bushels, do not at first stand for accurate 
concepts, but they acquire some meaning and help the 
child to standardize his perceptions and to form more 
definite ideas in connection with language. By hearing 
these terms used in connection with daily experience, he 
forms the perceptual basis used for the more accurate 
images and concepts of the measuring units that need 
to be developed in the next period. 

Not until standard meanings have been formed, can 
he appreciate descriptive stories. Such ideas are also 
necessary to his understanding and interpretation of 
pictures. The only key he has to the real size of pic- 
tured objects is the comparison that he may make be- 
tween them and some familiar objects in the same 
picture, of which he already has a standard idea. With- 
out such standard ideas also, there would be to a child 
no difference between stories of real experiences and 
fairy stories of giants, dwarfs, etc. On the other hand, 
fairy stories in which objects have unusual sizes, help to 
call the child's attention to the real size of objects, and 
thus, by contrast, to make his standards of size more 
definite. In a similar way, his ideas of other character- 
istics and of what is possible and impossible, are more 
definitely brought out as the story descriptions are con- 
trasted with real experiences. The effects of imaginar 
tive stories are, therefore, very similar to those already 



148 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

described for imaginative plays. In the case of stories, 
what is described in the story is compared with the 
ideas that the child has acquired of things and their 
possibilities, instead of being compared directly with 
sense perceptions, as in imaginative play. The child's 
delight in such stories is a more intellectual form of his 
pleasure in dramatic plays. The distinctions between 
the possible and impossible in stories, however, are not 
so clearly impressed upon the child as the distinction 
between the imaginary and the real in dramatic play. 
In order that these distinctions may be made, it is neces- 
sary that the child should do what he has a natural 
tendency to do, relate his own real experiences and 
hear the real experiences of others. His desire to make 
the distinction is often indicated by the question, " Is 
this a true story ? " 

In a large proportion of children, especially in those 
who have previously engaged in dramatic plays and are 
still interested in them, the interest in fairy stories 
remains very strong, not only in this stage of devel- 
opment, but in the next. Such stories offer greater 
opportunities for new mental experiences and for free 
activity of the mind in accordance with what is most 
pleasurable. True stories often fail to give the same 
pleasure because of the lack of novelty in the expe- 
riences described and the feeling that the persons and 
things are limited in the same way in which the child is, 
in dealing with real things. Listening to imaginary sto- 
ries is therefore one of the chief forms of mental play 
at this time and sometimes the child himself makes such 
stories. In this stage his stories are often associated 
with his dramatic plays and acted out instead of told. 

Story Interest and Ability. A boy at thirty-seven 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 149 

and one-half months told the following story : " A kitty 
went away and something came after him, something 
big, and it was a wolf, two big wolves. And he did n't 
kiU the kitty and the kitty had a ride on his back. The 
wolf asked the kitty where he wanted to go and he said, 
' To Jericho,' and the robbers came and the wolf tried 
to kill the robbers." (He was then very fond of the 
" Good Samaritan " story.) 

A girl of three and one-half seemed one morning to 
have discovered or invented fairies. She had been given 
no stories suggesting them, but came out of the parlor 
with her doll that had been " napping " and told about 
some little things that were under the sofa and that 
they were coming out into the dining room. " I saw 
them. They won't bite you." At breakfast she con- 
tinued to talk eagerly about them and insisted that the 
door be left open so that they could come out. After 
breakfast she went and looked under the sofa and 
coming back said they were not there. It is possible 
that the tassel-like fringe on the sofa suggested the idea 
of little people. 

A boy at four and one-half was much pleased with a 
story of some dwarfs, saying with wonder and pleasure, 
" They don't grow to be any bigger than me." 

He often repeats little rhymes but frequently changes 
them just a little, e. g., "Hickory, dickery, dock. The 
mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck nine (or per- 
haps twelve), and down he run." 

At ^ve he was interested in almost every story that 
was read aloud in the family and often showed by ques- 
tions and remarks that he got the main points of each. 

From this time for several years he showed a great 
deal of interest in war stories. This was probably only 



150 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

in part an outgrowth of his interest in guns, which was 
very strong. 

" Hiawatha," " Little Lord Fauntleroy," and " Grand- 
father's Chair " were listened to with great interest at 
five and a quarter. 

A little later he was much interested in " Boys of '76," 
especially in the account of the battles of Trenton and 
Princeton, which greatly excited him and made him 
rejoice and chuckle at the success of the Americans. In 
all these accounts of battles he asked frequently which 
side it was that was retreating or succeeding as the case 
might be, so as to make sure how the Americans were 
faring. He also asked and answered questions about 
the principal persons and events. 

Between five and six he often " whispered up " stories 
just after waking in the morning. One was of two little 
bears. " They had guns over their shoulders. They were 

nice little bears and A (his younger sister) could 

play with them." There were also some other animals, 

deer, lions and tigers. " M (his older sister) and I 

invited them. We each had one. They could tell time 
and when the children came home from school they 
jumped over the fence to meet them. They would wake 
the family in the morning by licking their faces. They 
would dance when A played the piano." 

One day when asked what he was laughing at, he told 
the following : " We all crawled through a little hole in 
the wall and when we got on the other side we were in 
* Make-believe-land.' We each had a wand and we could 

change things when we wanted to. A touched a 

stick with hers (we told her to) and it turned into a snake 
with a fire cracker in the end of its tail. We had to be 
careful not to step on it else it would go off (chuckle). 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 151 

** I took my wand and touched the schoolhouse and 
legs came on it and it ran away (chuckle). And when 
the teachers came next morning there was n't any school- 
house. They did n't like that because they did n't get 
any money for teaching. Then the people came and 
brought a lot of things and built a new schoolhouse and 
I touched that and it ran away. Then they built another 
and I touched that and so on. 

" Then I went down and told them if they would n't 
make me go to school they could build a schoolhouse 
and I would n't make it run away, but would touch it and 
change it into a palace. So they thought it was better 
to let one boy go than to spend all their money building 
schoolhouses. So they built it and I turned it into a 
palace, but I did n't have to go to school." 

The following are samples of questions of a boy of 
five which indicate the attempt to obtain standard im- 
ages of all kinds. 

" How big is an elephant ? How big is the biggest 
elephant in the world ? " 

" How long is twenty feet ? What is the hardest thing 
in the world ? " 

A little girl of not quite four, on an electric car, 
spoke of the houses going by so fast, and when ques- 
tioned, her answers indicated that she thought the 
houses that we were passing were reaUy moving. At 
another time she thought some houses seen at a distance 
were really very small. 

A girl who had been rather late in developing an in- 
terest in stories, was at four much interested in making 
up stories which she called " dreams." Sometimes they 
were fanciful and sometimes reasonable, like the follow- 
ing : " I dreamed that a little girl had a great big dog 



152 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

and her mamma let her keep it in the cellar. They 
did n't mind having it in the cellar and it did n't hurt 
the cats. They had some cats, too. And the big dog 
had some little dogs that they called puppy dogs, and 
they kept them till they got big like the big dog." This 
child after having a favorite story, "Teeny, Weeny," 
read many times, began asking the meaning of various 
words and later was able to repeat much of it. 

Between four and five she often made up little songs 
like this : 

" I saw three stars in the sky, 
And after that I saw four stars in the sky, 
Are n't they pretty though? 
I guess I will have you see them." 

"The sun is rising now; 
As the bright sun shines on the windows 
It finds the queerest places, 
It hides in children's hearts 
And shines in children's faces; 
It is rising now and is beautiful, 
Is rising, rising, rising. 
As it rises the sun is glowing now 
And never shines where anybody's grandma is, 
Because it is always raining there 
If they live out in Minnesota." 

The third, fourth and fifth lines were part of a song 
she had heard. 

" As the silver moon is rising 
And the little bells all over the garden. 
As the silver bells ring 
And the silver moon rises and rises, 
And you go past the silver rills 
As the golden moon is rising." 

Concepts and Reasoning. The standard ideas which 
the child forms from his repeated perceptions and from 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 153 

mental images aroused by accounts of the experiences 
of others, gradually assume a freedom from direct sense 
perception and from complete imaging, that entitle 
them to be termed concepts. The two chief factors in 
forming concepts are repeated experiences of the same 
kind and concentration of attention upon parts of suc- 
cessive experiences that are interesting, related or simi- 
lar. Eepetition plays something of the same role in the 
formation of concepts that it does in the formation of 
habits, but the process is more conscious and the atten- 
tion is more focused upon parts of the experiences that 
are noticed under different circumstances. In this way 
conscious ideas are formed and freed from their sur- 
roundings. 

For a considerable time there is little difference be- 
tween the child's mental images and his concepts. As 
standard images are formed, however, the tendency to 
think these standards, in response to sensations or im- 
ages, becomes stronger, and a standard image stands for 
many more possibilities than are represented, just as 
symbols do in the case of concepts. 

Back of all standard ideas is meaning in the form of 
possible experiences. The possible experiences most fre- 
quently suggested are those involving action and having 
results of some kind that are interesting and usual. 
Many children are satisfied for a long time with ima- 
ginative activity only, while others are less interested 
in the mere activity of mentally picturing things, than 
in the relation of things to each other. Such children 
are most persistent questioners and their questioning 
is frequently not of a joyful, playful character, but 
of an intensely serious nature, as if they were entering 
upon the great task of solving the world's mysteries. 



154 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

Their minds, instead of being filled with playful fancies, 
are continually occupied with reasons, relations and 
causes. They form many generalizations in accordance 
with their experiences and the answers they get to 
questions. These generalizations are usually submitted 
to others for approval. A large proportion of general 
truths are also obtained in answer to questions as to why 
things are done or why they are done in a certain way. 

The child rapidly develops his concepts and his power 
of reasoning in his attempts to go beyond experiences 
and realize all the possibilities of anything with which 
he is acquainted. He asks how far a person can reach, 
how high he can jump, what things he can lift ; or he 
follows up a line of questions as to what things will burn 
and what things will not, or asks about the biggest or 
smallest thing of a class that has ever existed. 

His ideas of causes are extended by asking where 
things came from and how they came to be as they are. 
After a good deal of this kind of questioning he be- 
comes much more ready to notice similarities and to 
engage in reasoning by saying that what he has learned 
to be true of one thing is true of a class or what is true 
of one class is true of another class ; e. g., " Things that 
will run like water and milk will wet, won't they?" 
When told about electricity he says, "It is like air, 
we cannot see it." Children in whom this tendency is 
marked are not satisfied with the mere story or jingle, 
though they may enjoy it. They will question, for in- 
tance, about the dish having legs if it runs away with 
the spoon. 

The questions often relate to the ultimate problems 
of existence and power. The little seeker after informa- 
tion may not be satisfied with the convenient and sup- 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 155 

posedly final answer that God made things, but wishes 
to know " Who made God? " He is slow to accept any 
answer or reason as final and often goes over the same 
circle of questioning again and again. He asks not only 
about objects and about other persons, but also re- 
garding himself and how he was made. Sometimes he 
may be concerned with psychical characteristics as well 
as physical powers. This is perhaps indicated by the 
remark, " We don't really see things with our eyes, do 
we ? " and later, " What makes our eyes so we can see 
with them ? " A child in this stage who has a strong 
tendency to reason, thus concerns himself not mej'ely 
with practical problems in which his own pleasures are 
concerned, but seems to be continually seeking to get 
the numberless free ideas that he has acquired, organ- 
ized into a system of relations. Almost every problem 
that may occupy an adult mind may be attacked in its 
fundamental form by the child at this time. It is a 
period in which the child attains a distinct personality 
and psychical individuality, and he is not satisfied till 
he organizes his ideas into some sort of a system. 

In this stage reasoning is not only very active and 
acute but, as in the case of memory, it is of a pure form. 
An adult shrinks from drawing the natural conclusions 
from the premises set before him, because he foresees 
that they will not be agreeable or will not harmonize 
with conclusions he has previously accepted, but the 
child with only a small stock of general truths and with 
perhaps only two of them in consciousness at the time, 
draws his conclusions without any thought of how those 
conclusions may be related to something else. He makes 
many mistakes in his reasoning because of the limited 
number and inexact character of his concepts, and the 



156 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

inaccuracy of the supposed general truths, but he draws 
with inexorable logic the conclusion that seems to fol- 
low from the truths that he is considering. It is in this 
stage of concept forming and using that the child comes 
to accept many ideas and truths as final, so that they 
are, thereafter, fundamental in his world of thought. 
In other words, he forms at this time his crude system 
of philosophy which during the next period dominates 
to a considerable extent all his thinking. 

The relations between philosophy and religion are 
such that in their early development they are not 
usually distinguished from each other. This is a time, 
therefore, when the child also readily acquires religious 
ideas. To his questions in his search for ultimate sources 
of power and the highest possibilities of strength, wis- 
dom, etc., he is given the answer " God." This idea 
becomes for him, as in the case of older people, a ceater 
for the organization of his thought. His idea of God is 
likely to be based on his idea of persons. He is the One 
who possesses all the desirable characteristics of per- 
sons that he knows and has heard of, only in a much 
greater degree. He develops an idea of God not only 
in his physical, but also in his mental characteristics, 
and he may come to have an idea of a common con- 
sciousness with Him similar to that which he has with 
persons. The thought of what God will think or feel 
with reference to his actions may take as prominent 
a place in his mind as the thought of what his parents 
or companions will think or feel. As already indicated, 
the thought of what others will think when the child is 
absent from them, is the basis of what is called con- 
science. This moral basis of conscience may now be 
supplemented by and united with the religious basis. 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 157 

Rarely does a child in the next period show so much 
interest in fundamental questions of religion and phi- 
losophy as in this period. Having formed some idea of 
the general scheme of things he is more interested in 
special problems, until later when his whole outlook on 
the world may be changed during the adolescent period. 

The period from three to six is the period for form- 
ing the intellect, as the preceding was for the mould- 
ing of the emotional life of the child. General ideas 
formed during this period are almost as persistent as 
the emotional attitudes produced by the experiences of 
the preceding period. It is not necessary or even desir- 
able that the child's general ideas shall be definite and 
accurate at this time, but that they shall be started in 
the right direction. They can then develop in definite- 
ness and accuracy without having to be radically 
changed. The general type of the mind as perceptive 
or reflective, concentrated and analytic, or diffuse and 
variable is pretty well determined during this period. 
Other minds modify and mould the developing mind, but 
their influence during this period is probably not as 
great as are native tendencies and emotional experi- 
ences. 

One of the most important concepts formed during 
this period is that of number. Usually at first the words 
one, two, three, etc., are used without any meaning, or 
the child may take them for names to be given to cer- 
tain fingers, the fore finger perhaps being called " one " 
even when the counting begins at the other side of the 
hand. Later the names are applied somewhat indiffer- 
ently to several objects, e. g., " One, ^Ye, three," or the 
series in order, but not matching the objects to which 
they are supposed to be applied. At the same time 



158 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

"hundred," or "thousand" may be used as an adjec- 
tive of emphasis. The next stage is to match the num- 
ber series up to ten or more, to the objects as they are 
touched. The child then realizes that ten is more than 
six, and twenty more than ten, and soon begins to learn 
simple combinations, often without much grouping of 
objects. This ability is usually gained between four and 
six, and sometimes the child can do a good deal of arith- 
metical reasoning. 

Illustrations of Questions, Concepts and Reason- 
ing. Boy of three years. After he had asked a great 
many questions, his mother said, " Now be still a little 
while and let us have peace." " What 's peace ? " " It 's 
when little boys don't talk all the time." After a 
minute's silence, " Have we got a peace now, mamma ? " 

At thirty-seven months, talked a good deal about 
heaven of which he had heard from a servant, saying, 
" Angels come down and take us in when we die, then 
we can live again, wear a pretty dress and pretty things 
on our heads." When told that the only heaven we 
know very much about is inside of us, he pondered a 
good while, then said, " How can we go inside of us? " 

Children often have the idea that when they grow 
large, adults become small. A boy of thirty-eight 
months said, " When I get big I will use chopper (axe) 
like you do now. Perhaps you will be little then, won't 
you ? " Later he asserted positively that his father would 
be little when he got big. 

His sister, when a year or two older, said, " When I 
get big I will pop corn like you do. Then you wiU be 
little like I am, won't you ? " "No." « Yes you will." 

A boy of forty months was hugging his mother and 
alternately saying that he did and that he did not love 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 159 

her. She told him, " I do not believe you know what 
loving is." He replied, " Loving is hugging," then 
added, "Loving is not hugging, loving is being kind." 
He had received no special teaching of that kind. 

When told that a basket ball was made of leather 
and wind, he said it would blow away if it was made of 
wind. 

He questions a great deal about where articles of 
food, clothing and furniture come from, how they are 
made and the cost. 

After being told that other people did things for 
him so he should do things for them, he reversed the 
application, saying to his father, " I wanted you to and 
you ought to do it, you ought." The explanation that 
children did not know as well as older people what was 
best, scarcely satisfied him. 

At three and one-half, when being washed, he said, 
"It is a good thing my ears are there to catch the 
dust. They are two little waste baskets each side of my 
head." 

He uses " hundred " to indicate magnitude and de- 
gree as well as number, e. g., " I love you a hundred," 
and even spoke of being "hungry like a hundred." 
Ejqows that a thousand is more, and a little later used 
" million " as his expressive word instead of hundred. 

At three and one-haK he was much interested in a 
pump and where the water came from. 

When going for a walk when not quite four, he said, 
" Are we going over to the trees where the end of the 
blue sky is?" "No." "Is it far to those trees?" 
" No." " Then it is n't far to the end of the sky ? " 

Another day, upon seeing a picture of a volcanic 
eruption he asked, " What made those things /a^^ up f " 



160 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

" The days that have gone, wiU they come again ? 
Will the days ever be gone, never come back again? " 
This question was asked in many forms, sometimes with 
" why " and once with a wish that they would all be 
gone. 

Later, when learning the days of the week he said, 
" The days that have been, come again, don't they? " 

Hearing the term step-mother he asked, " What does 
a step-mother step on ? " He has often asked, " What 
makes the dark come ? " and once, " What makes it 
come together ? " Again, when a lamp was lighted he 
said, " Where does the dark go when light comes ? " 

" What is the earth made of ? Where does the sun 
go at night? Where does the wind go?" 

He often asks what giants can do ; e. g., " Could a 
giant take a whole loaf of bread at one bite? " 

" Can you reach the stars ? Nobody can, can they ? 
God can, can't he? How big are the stars? The sky 
moves as we move, don't it ? It looks like it is moving, 
because we are moving?" 

" Are you stronger than Mr. A — ? How much can 
you lift ? How high can you reach ? " etc. 

Between four and one-half and five and one-half the 
following questions and remarks were made. " If there 
was n't any day or night there would n't be anything, 
would there ? " " When aU the folks in the world are 
dead will the days keep going on?" "What makes 
sugar sweet ? " 

" Everything is made of little bits of pieces and those 
are made of stiU smaller pieces." He may have heard 
something said about atoms and molecules. He asked 
how rubbing the razor on the strap made it sharp, and 
when told that it rubbed off smaU pieces, he, after a 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 161 

little thought, said, " When you use it small pieces come 
off the edge and then you have to sharpen it again. 
Isn't that the way?" 

Asks many questions about numbers, such as, " How 
much are eight and nine hundred ? " " Two hundred 
and a thousand ? " and about how long it would take 
to go to various places that he hears of. 

Asks if iron, glass, paper, etc., will burn or if they 
will melt and as to which is harder, etc. 

" How many worlds are there ? How did God make 
the world?" 

"There are never any warm days up north, are 
there ? Warm can melt cold things, can't it, ice and 
snow ? Can ice burn ? " 

Early one morning he asked, " Is a wolf's foot just 
like a dog's foot? " When told to keep still, did so for 
haK an hour, then repeated the question. 

" What is glory? What is the author of liberty?" 

Asks many questions about size, cost and how many ; 
e. g., "How much would a cannon cost? How many 
could we get for a thousand dollars ? What would the 
biggest cannon in the world cost ? " Other common sub- 
jects are swords, guns, balloons, whaling ships and air 
ships. Some of the questions regarding air ships were, 
" How high will it go ? Will it come so near the sky ? 
(indicating with his hands.) How big is it? Where 
does the man stay that makes it go ? What kind of an 
engine does it have ? How big is it ? Where does he 
get gasolene enough ? Does he have a tank ? How much 
gas does the air ship hold ? What is it made of ? When 
does he get his money ? Would he give us some ? Would 
he make a ship for us if we paid him ? How much does 
he pay his man for making his air ship ? How much 



162 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

does it cost ? How many can ride in it ? Does one go 
up and stay and then another go up? Is it dark up 
there?" 

Has himself said that the sky is just air, but can 
scarcely get away from the idea that it is something 
tangible, and hence that there is a landing place up 
there. 

Gets excited when interested, and walks up and 
down as he asks one question after another. After ask- 
ing about the digging of gold, he asked the value of a 
pailful, a room full, how long it would take to dig it, 
what could be done with it, etc. The questions being 
interspersed with remarks as to what he would do with 
gold ; e. g., " make a little gold house." 

" If we didn't have any mother we could go where 
we wanted to, couldn't we ? " Some of the disadvantages 
were explained and he said, " God ought to make every 
one with mothers, had n't he ? " 

Had been troubled about something to do and one 
night prayed, "Dear Father, please help me to find 
enough to do all the time, until I am grown up, then I 
can find enough for myself without your helping." 

When given the number of shells in a box as twenty- 
five, he gave the number in four boxes, then in eight 
boxes. This involved the knowledge of two times four, 
which he knew. He then asked, "What are two 
eights ? " and when told said, " In sixteen boxes there 
would be four hundred." 

" George ought to go with a big boy, 'cause he is a 
big boy. Babies ought to go with babies, had n't they ? 
Mans like you ought to go with mans, had n't they ? 
And little boys about four years old ought to go with 
boys four years old. Everybody ought to go with people 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 163 

of the same age, hadn't they? I wish I was bigger. 
How much more is ten (age of George) than four and 
one-half ? " 

After talking about having a pet mouse said, " Mouses 
will starve to death, won't they ? Everything alive will 
starve to death if they don't eat, won't it ? If a thing is 
too bitter I won't eat it. If a mouse had something he 
did n't like he would n't eat it, would he?" 

Boy at five and one-third, when his father was talking 
about buying a house, asked the price of one that was 
mentioned. When told "Three thousand dollars," he 
asked how many years in three thousand days and then 
said, "If you paid a dollar a day for a little over eight 
years you would pay for it, would n't you?" 

Definitions by Dr. Chamberlain's little girl, age forty-seven and 
forty- eight months. 

Ankle — means to walk with. 

Apple — It means to eat — just to eat. 

Baby — It means babies that creep just like this. 

Ball — It means balls for playing tennis or anything. 

Book — O book you read. You 're reading a book. 

Boy — O boys — they 're boys that walk of course. 
The boys go in the house and play and walk around. 

Gat — A cat means just a cat. A cat eats salmon and 
meat and anything else that he likes. He runs around 
and walks around and kills snakes and mice and kills 
birds and rats. 

Ghair — Ghair means to sit in. 

Eyelid — For your eyes to live in. 

Girl — Why, girl means to go to school. 

Hat — To wear on your head. 

Neck — Your neck that the head is on. 



164 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

Papa — To take care of you. 

River — Means where you get drinks out of, water, 
and catch fish and throw stones in. 

School — To go in for anybody that wants to. 

Sheep — It means a animal. 

Sleep — It means when you are tired, why you go to 
sleep. 

Story — Means to tell about. 

Table — To put things on. 

Town — It means to go in. 

Blow — To blow bubbles. Wind blows curtains and 
blinds and everything. 

Cry — When you hurt yourself, why, you cry. Your 
eyes are all squeezed up and tears rolling down. 

Play — When you play house, tea-party, other games. 

Speak — It means when you say " How do you do." 

Red — It is a red ribbon. Geraniums. 

EXERCISES 

1. What changes in individuality have you observed be- 
tween three and six years of age ? Have you observed as 
great changes in any child between six and twelve ? 

2. Describe instances of contrariness you have observed in 
children at about four years and the circumstances that tended 
to increase or decrease the characteristic. 

3. Discuss the relative possibility and desirability of having 
obedience bring pleasure or of having disobedience bring pain. 
Which most effectively develops habits and ideals of con- 
formity to law ? 

4. Describe any instance you know of a child who had cer- 
tain characteristics emphasized and more firmly established 
by others speaking and acting as if the child possessed them. 

5. Describe instances from your experience or observation 
showing the formation and influence of ideals before six years 
of age. 



PERIOD OF INDIVIDUALIZATION 165 

6. Have you ever seen more than three or four children 
under six spontaneously play or work together as a group ? 
Is there too much group work and play attempted in kinder- 
gartens ? 

7. Describe instances of assumed changes in personality and 
of imaginary companions. 

8. Describe early instances of deception and of how a child 
has been taught to tell the truth. 

9. Have you ever found lack of appreciation of fairy stories 
or of figures of speech in a child who engaged in dramatic 
plays a great deal ? Have you in one who does not ? 

10. Describe instances of remarkable memory by children 
under six. 

11. Describe instances of children being confused as to 
time and in regard to dreams. 

12. Illustrate the need of standard images in order that a 
child may appreciate stories. 

13. Collect samples of children's own stories and study their 
characteristics as a means of judging what interests them and 
the degree of their knowledge and mental grasp. 

14. Give and analyze a number of instances of children's 
reasoning to determine how they reached their conclusions. 

15. Give instances of theological or philosophical interest 
in children under six. 



CHAPTER Vn 

PERIOD OF COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION AND 
REGULATION 

Characteristics and Changes. The period from six 
to twelve is not a time of marked internal changes in 
any way, but one in which the external, social and reg- 
ulative influences are very prominent and the individ- 
uality of the child is to a greater or less extent brought 
into harmony with other individualities and with social 
customs. The most prominent new tendency that ap- 
pears during this period is the tendency to compete with 
others in all lines. Individuality is now so far devel- 
oped that the child imitates less and competes more, 
especially with those of his own age, and thus strength- 
ens still further his individuality. It is a period during 
which the sharp corners of individuality are to a con- 
siderable extent rubbed off or suppressed and the indi- 
vidual is made to conform to the rules of social life, 
without marked change in the essential nature of his 
personality. Association with others of his own age is 
absolutely necessary to normal development during this 
period, because only through companionship with those 
like himself can the child learn the natural laws of 
sympathy, ridicule, rivalry, etc., that always come into 
play whenever human beings are associated with each 
other. 

During this period the physiological changes are com- 
paratively slight. The child's growth is slower than for- 
merly and is nearly the same each year throughout the 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 167 

period. The most marked variation is at about nine years 
of age, when the rate of growth is slowest and there 
may be other physical and mental changes. No new 
organs begin to function during this period, but all 
gradually increase in size in more nearly the same pro- 
portion than at any other period. The infinite number 
of sensory motor activities already being carried on are 
developed and better coordinated. The change in motor 
control is well shown in the throwing of a ball by a ten 
or twelve-year-old as compared with a six-year-old. 

The plays of the child undergo considerable modifi- 
cation. Free play gives place to a greater or less extent 
to the partially directed activity of games and sports 
and the child's activities have much more of the char- 
acteristic of work, in that they are directed toward 
definite ends, instead of being carried on for the mere 
pleasure of the activity itself. In general there is an 
increasing tendency to differentiate work from play and 
it is well at this time to encourage this growing ten- 
dency without trying to hasten it too much. The child 
should learn to work when he works and play when he 
plays. Following the rules of games is a help in this 
direction. 

During this period the child is usually brought under 
the influence of a constantly widening environment. In 
the preceding periods the chief social influences have 
been those of adult personalities, who to a greater or 
less extent are imitated and obeyed. In this fourth 
period of development the child is usually much more 
in contact with other children of his own age in school 
and on the street. He imitates them to a greater or less 
degree, but his personality is in continual competition 
with those who are at approximately the same stage of 



168 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

development. By contact with companions he not only 
has his characteristics as an individual developed, but 
he learns the characteristics of other personalities and 
becomes a conscious member of a group who compete 
and cooperate in all sorts of ways. He thus develops a 
social consciousness of a more advanced type than the 
common consciousness of an earlier stage. He finds his 
place in social activities, learning how his activities 
affect others and theirs affect him. He thus learns the 
laws of social conduct by experience in a way similar 
to that in which he earlier learned the physical laws 
governing the movement of things. Even the quarrel- 
ing and fighting of children are sometimes half playful 
contests and rarely involve prolonged ill-feeling. 

In the first part of this period of development the 
child feels chiefly the influence of individuals, but in the 
latter part of the period the public sentiment of the 
group to which he belongs becomes an important influ- 
ence directing his conduct. Single individuals no longer 
influence him to such an extent as individuals, but as 
they are conceived to represent the larger sentiment of 
the group to which they belong. Even the commenda- 
tion or reproof of the teacher is not now effective simply 
in a personal way, but chiefly because of the light in 
which it places him before his fellows. 

In this latter stage the child learns to cooperate to 
some extent in his games and in reaching desired ends. 
The cooperation that appears at this time is not, how- 
ever, very successful unless directed by an older per- 
son who can usually best develop it through group 
competition. Rivalry is no less strong than before, but 
in contests of one group with another, the individual 
begins to realize that he often can best distinguish 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 169 

himself by acting so as to secure the success of the 
group. 

Social Direction and Regulation. In all civilized 
countries the period from six to twelve is recognized as 
the special period for formal education. Before this the 
child has been profoundly influenced unintentionally 
and to some extent intentionally by adults, but there 
has been little effort made to definitely direct his learn- 
ing and his intellectual development. He has also been 
allowed a great deal of freedom, but now he has more 
definite tasks to perform at a certain time and in a spe- 
cific way. Because of these things and because of the 
fact that he is also being introduced to the broader 
environment of the world represented in books, it would 
seem that the development during this period must be 
largely in accordance with the conscious purpose of his 
educators. The time is peculiarly favorable for such 
control of the child's development. During no period 
before this are there so few changes in the instinctive 
tendencies of the child, hence the tendencies already 
present may be directed in any line desired and to 
almost any extent. 

It is peculiarly a time for forming habits and ac- 
quiring knowledge, and these conditions foster the 
sometimes illusory idea that during this period the 
development of the child depends entirely upon his 
educators. It frequently happens, either that his de- 
velopment does not proceed as his educator expects or 
that characteristics which seem to be firmly established 
during this period are entirely changed during the 
next period of development. The reason for the varied 
outcome from the same treatment is that children are 
very distinctly different at the beginning of this period 



170 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

and hence exactly the same training and instruction 
do not produce the same results. In cases where the 
desired results seem to have been reached but are 
largely changed in the next period, it must be sup- 
posed that the acquired characteristics are not com- 
pletely incorporated with the natural and that the new 
instincts which come into play at the beginning of the 
next period cause the acquired characteristics to be 
thrown off and the conscious life wholly reorganized. 

The effects of different modes of treatment are well 
illustrated by comparing Japanese children with Anglo- 
Saxons, in accordance with the observations of Prof. 
P. A. Smith upon the Japanese (Ped. Sem. vol. 16, 
pp. 256-267). In general children of the West are 
subjected to authoritative control with greater or less 
success. They are required to conform to rules of con- 
duct similar to those governing adults, whether they 
wish it or not. In Japan, on the contrary, the child is 
allowed to do as he pleases without any attempt to 
force him to do as the parents desire. He is treated 
with the greatest politeness and kindness, even though 
he is impudent and selfish. The virtues of politeness 
and regard for parents are, however, very much em- 
phasized in the teaching that he receives. The result is 
that through such example and teaching the child after 
a few years becomes very polite and very thoughtful 
for the welfare of his parents, and these characteristics 
are confirmed during the next stage of development. 

The Western child, on the other hand, is more or 
less successfully vnade to behave himself by means 
which, if imitated, would result in anything but kind- 
ness and politeness. If the authority is vigorous and 
he is not a strong or rebellious personality the habits 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 171 

of politeness and deference to adults are apparently 
well developed. In tlie next period, however, these 
seemingly established but really unassiniilated charac- 
teristics are frequently thrown off and after a period of 
assertion of independence and of lawless activity, the 
habits and the mental life are reorganized. 

Such facts as these make it exceedingly difficult to 
determine the final value of any system of training 
and education carried on during this period. A plan 
that is a complete success with one child may be an 
entire failure with another. A plan which seemed to 
be an entire success may later prove to be a complete 
failure, while a plan that seems for a long time to 
show few or no results, may later result most satisfac- 
torily. 

There is still much chance for difference of opinion 
as to the kind and amount of direction that should be 
given the child during this period. Good results have 
been obtained where the surroundings were favorable, 
with little or no authoritative direction, and also where 
there has been very rigid and extensive direction. Au- 
thoritative direction is better suited to producing a 
specific result, while freedom and other forms of in- 
fluence are most favorable to bringing out the individ- 
uality of the child. There is no time when authoritative 
direction is less dangerous, but it should never, if indi- 
viduality is prized at all, be exercised all the time and 
control every form of the child's activity. 

There is also serious danger to normal individual 
development in making too abrupt the transition from 
the comparatively free life of the home to the con- 
tinuously directed activity of the school. 

The Chief Social Influences. The influence of home 



172 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

life continues during this period with little change ex- 
cept that the child usually spends much less time in 
the home and more with companions on the street and 
in the school. He is thus brought in contact with 
a variety of personalities. The school life often soon 
takes a leading part in the child's development, with 
the teacher as the dominating personality. After a 
few years, however, the real development of the child 
is frequently directed largely by association with other 
children outside of the regular school exercises and also 
to a considerable extent by their activity and sentiments 
in school. During all this time the child is being in- 
troduced to the wider world environment through the 
medium of books and papers which suggest regulation 
of conduct. Societies of all kinds exert an increasing 
influence over children as they reach the close of this 
period and enter upon the next. 

With some children, the home influence, which at the 
beginning of the period is most potent, continues to re- 
main dominant. With others, competitive plays and 
games and experiences of chumming, leadership, and 
group activity are dominant influences. In a few cases, 
distinctly school interests take the lead, while in others, 
the events pictured in books most occupy the mind 
and direct the formation of ideals and corresponding 
regulation of conduct. Various studies have shown that 
children during the first half of this period get their 
ideals of what they wish to be from their immediate sur- 
roundings, while in the latter half of the period they are 
derived more from history and literature. 

The most common defect in social regulation during 
this period, is a lack of correlation in these various in- 
fluences. Not infrequently there is little resemblance 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 173 

between the child in the home, on the playground, in the 
class-room and in his reading activities. Parents and 
teachers are consciously directing their best efforts to 
develop the child in accordance with their ideals of what 
he should be, but not infrequently their influence is less 
than that of his companions or his books. 

It is fortunate that the child is subjected to other in- 
fluences than those directed by parents and teachers, for 
he thus has a chance for a freer, broader development 
of his own individuality. The unfortunate thing is that 
these various influences are frequently not brought into 
any close relation with each other. Librarians are now 
doing much to correlate reading with school work, while 
playgrounds, school gardens and industrial training as 
well as the use of schools as social centers are proving 
of great aid in correlating various influences, but much 
still remains to be done in correlating the school life 
with life outside. 

The influence of the school, powerful as it is, is much 
less than it might be if the subjects dealt with were 
more directly related to the child's individual interests 
and activities outside of school, and if the school life as 
a whole were more closely related to the life of the com- 
munity. It is difficult to bring this about because a 
considerable portion of the time at first is spent in ac- 
quiring a new language and learning other symbols and 
processes not directly connected with ends the child is 
seeking, and because much of what is taught in school is 
so far removed from every-day activity that both teacher 
and pupils regard the lessons as a thing apart from life. 
For a long period also, after the child has acquired an 
elementary knowledge of visual language so that he can 
get thought from reading and express thought in writ- 



174 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

ing, his mental processes work mucli less freely and 
accurately when directed by visual symbols than when 
he uses the more familiar oral symbols. For these rea- 
sons many of the ideas gained in school, though ex- 
pressed clearly in familiar words, are connected with 
his own experiences either not at all or to only a very 
slight extent. His school learning may in the course of 
years be very fully developed, but it may not be organ- 
ized so as to have any effective connection with the ideas 
directing his activities outside of school. It is very de- 
sirable, therefore, that the information acquired in the 
schoolroom should be more fully based upon experiences 
the child has already had and that what he learns in 
school should be found by him to be directly useful in 
advancing ends that he now desires, instead of merely 
being acquired for use in some remote future, for ends 
which now have little real significance to him. 

The following are the conclusions of Prof. J. R. Street 
(" A Study in Moral Education," Ped. Sem. vol. v, pp. 
5-40) as to the kind of influence exerted by teachers, 
parents and companions. He says : " The teacher seems 
to stimulate the accessories of character, such as man- 
ners, sense of social and civil relationship, tastes, etc. 
The parent develops the fundamentals, such as sympa- 
thy, reverence, love, sense of truth, justice, mercy, kind- 
ness, meekness, patience, etc. Companions develop the 
social qualities and afford practical applications of the 
teachings of the home and school and prepare the boy 
or girl for the further duties of citizenship by cultivating 
the sense of independence, individuality, altruism, etc. 
Other adults advise, and they and books often supply 
ideals while all sorts of societies develop the larger social 
self." 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 175 

Competition. Competition becomes the dominant ele- 
ment in the child's play and in all his activities. The 
delight which he formerly experienced in manipulating 
objects and exercising his powers upon them is now felt 
in contests with his mates. He may be either a leader or 
a follower, but he is even then always to a greater or 
less extent a competitor with other leaders and follow- 
ers. The primitive activities of chasing and struggling 
with companions are now usually carried on in a more 
regulated manner in connection with games of chase 
and in various feats of strength and skill. 

Competition early in this period is often for social 
ends, each child trying to secure notice and favors from 
parents, teachers and playmates. Any favor granted to 
one child is desired by every other, regardless of its 
value to him. The competition of this period does not 
necessarily involve enmity, but merely a strong tendency 
to engage in contests. Even quarreling and fighting may 
be half playful. Imitation and rivalry are what make 
plays, games and work interesting and in fact increase 
every instinctive tendency to such an extent that where 
children are in groups, any type of activity that is 
started is likely to arouse the impulse to imitate and 
compete to such an extent that individual interests, 
unless those of the leader, have little influence in de- 
termining what shall be done. A child's own interests 
may be shown in the collections that he makes, but often 
he has little real interest in the objects that he collects 
and merely wishes to do as others are doing and to 
surpass as many of them as he can in the doing. 

The child, although in the individualistic period in 
which the prominent tendency is to act for one's self, 
may, toward the close of the period, feel the power of the 



176 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

group to be greater than that of the individual and 
strive to share in and promote the success of his group 
against any other group. He himself is exalted by the 
success of the group with which he to some extent feels 
himself identified. This feeling is fostered whenever 
the child plays with a number of children and in cases 
where he has a definite part to perform. If he has duties 
and responsibilities in the home, it is also fostered 
through the family feeling. In school the teaching often 
emphasizes individual activities, but whenever classes or 
schools compete with other classes or schools, the social 
self is emphasized and developed. The appreciation thus 
developed of the importance of the social relations is 
the basis of most of the subsequent moral development. 
The most powerful stimulus to activity in both work 
and play is the presence and activity of other per- 
sons. That which arouses no interest whatever where 
the child is alone, may be of most exciting interest 
when others are interested in the object or activity. 
Very few plays after the beginning of this period can 
be enjoyed alone, and almost any task may be delight- 
ful if others are joining eagerly in it. So fundamental 
is this instinctive response to others that a horse or a 
man may do the best he can in running a given distance 
alone, yet when he has a rival to run against he wiU 
make very much better time. This is so f uUy recognized 
that records of paced and unpaced races are kept separ- 
ately. Whenever children do things in the presence of 
other children, rivalry in some form plays a part whether 
the teacher desires it to do so or not, especially during 
this period. A child working alone lacks one strong 
stimulus to effort that can only partially be supplied by 
ideas of what others have done. This gives class teach- 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 177 

ing an advantage that can only be matched by skilled 
individual teaching and by arousing interest in other 
ways than by competition. 

Chumming and Leadership. The real development 
of individual character is now more profoundly in- 
fluenced by association with chums and groups of child- 
ren than in any other way. The child could get along 
without human influence during the first period and 
without companions in the second ; he needs both parents 
and companions during the third, but can live much 
of his life independently; while in this fourth period 
companions are a necessity and other social influences 
are incidentally valuable. None but companions can 
make the potential value of former experience and 
training of actual value. The child must measure him- 
self against other children and thus develop his powers, 
learn his own strength and weakness, and how to act 
socially. He should during this period be alternately 
an imitator and follower of those older, a leader who 
imposes his own wishes and modes of action upon 
younger or weaker persons and one who gives and 
takes from chums and rivals. 

These activities are favored by association in the 
home and elsewhere with children a little older and a 
little younger than himself, as well as with those of his 
own age and ability. He needs individual chums, and he 
needs to be a member of little groups or societies, that 
he may learn to adjust his personality to other person- 
alities singly and in groups in such a way as to avoid 
pain and failure and secure success and pleasure. 

In this and the following period, chumming as well 
as group activity plays a large part in the social develop- 
ment of most persons. Chums stimulate one another in 



178 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

special ways and bring out special phases of each other's 
nature. They imitate each other a good deal, but they 
also often develop contrasting characteristics, through 
one taking the lead in one line and the other in another. 
Prolonged and exclusive chumming with one person is 
narrowing. To develop various phases of his nature a 
child needs to be brought into close relation with many 
personalities, either singly or in groups. 

Chums are usually of nearly the same age and they 
generally have some common interests although they 
not infrequently possess contrasting characteristics. 

The qualities that make a leader among children, as 
well as among men, are various. There must be some 
common bond of sympathy, purpose or interest between 
the leader and his followers ; then he must have some 
quality or qualities either motor, mental or moral that 
mark him as superior to the others. Originality, self- 
confidence and firmness are favorable to leadership as 
is also the not easily defined power of attracting and 
impressing others. This latter power is possessed by all 
so-called "born leaders" while other characteristics 
may make one a leader under special circumstances or 
of special groups over which he possesses some advan- 
tage in the way of knowledge, power or position. The 
best teachers are leaders rather than governors and they 
learn also to utilize the power of leadership possessed 
by their pupils. 

The following examples from Terman's study of lead- 
ership (Ped. Sem. vol. xi, pp. 413-451) illustrate the 
power that child leaders may exert and some of their 
characteristics. 

Girl of eleven. Euled the boys and girls alike. " One 
of the wealthiest girls in the village was her slave. She 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 179 

could make us do as she wished before we knew what 
was up. She was good-looking, daring, skillful in hold- 
ing her own, and older than the rest." 

Girl of ten. " Leader of boys and girls. Never alone 
but always a horde following; jolly, off-handed, ex- 
tremely resourceful, aristocratic looking. In our dra- 
matic plays was always composer and leading lady." 

Boy of fourteen in country school. " Was small but 
ruled those larger, older and stronger. High ideals, 
scorned a coward, protected the smaller boys, naturally 
a gentleman. Could see both sides and judge quickly 
and justly." 

Boy of twelve. " Not attractive but rules his school- 
mates absolutely. He is selfish, rude, cruel, and inspires 
fear. He is inventive and clever." 

Boy of fifteen. " Big and well formed, could run, 
jump, spin a top better than anybody else. We thought 
there was nothing impossible for him to do." 

Girl of twelve. " Had a great influence over her 
schoolmates. At one time she became angry at one of 
her mates and persuaded all her mates to be * mad ' at 
her also. For several weeks no one spoke to that girl. 
Due to social standing, smart manners and skill in 
games." 

Boy of ten. " Leader of a large group. Once per- 
suaded all the boys to stay away from school an entire 
day. Later he begged the teacher's pardon and made 
the others do so. He was above the average in size and 
physical strength. Was homely, pug-nosed and freckled." 

Boy of nine. " Domineers excessively over his com- 
panions in a pleasant way. They do as he does. He has 
only to begin a game to have them follow. If they are 
playing and he quits, the game soon breaks up." 



180 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

Girl of nine. " We would play no game until she 
had consented. When her regular seatmate was absent 
we all wanted to sit with her. We took care not to 
wear clothes that she did not like. Due to good looks, 
manners, social station and clothes." 

Boy of fourteen. " A kind of lawless fellow. Leads 
a gang of his friends whom he has caused to begin 
stealing. They do as he says because they dread his 
ridicule. Is daring and skillful at feats." 

Girl of ten. " Her leadership depends entirely on 
the prominence of her parents and on her beautiful 
clothes. She is selfish, not good-looking and not at all 
bright in her studies, yet she has the other girls com- 
pletely under her control. Whatever she does, they 
follow suit." 

Boy of nine. "An only child and used to having 
things his own way at home. At school is domineering. 
When he can't get the boys of his own age to obey him 
he joins a group of smaller boys whom he can boss." 

The following descriptions of outcasts illustrate the 
opposite of leadership. 

Boy of twelve. " Most unpopular I ever knew. Un- 
tidy, ill-mannered, rude, selfish, spoiled, sneaking. A 
cry baby." 

Boy of ten. " When he came near the others always 
stopped their game to keep him from joining. Conceited 
and cowardly." 

Girl of ten. "A tell-tale. We called her C. T., 
which meant Cranky Tattler." 

Teasing and Humor. At this time the social in- 
stincts have so developed that there is great sensitive- 
ness to what others think as well as do, and to what 
they say. There is also a strong tendency to try to in- 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 181 

fluence others and make them perform. The child 
therefore develops great sensitiveness to being teased 
and a strong tendency to tease others. This tendency 
sometimes makes children seemingly unsympathetic and 
almost brutal and cruel in their treatment of each 
other. They seem to do everything they can to make 
the unfortunate victim ashamed, angry or fearful, and 
to prolong the process as long as they can get any re- 
sponse from him without serious injury to themselves. 
The stimulus to teasing is not, however, the desire to 
inflict actual pain, but the more or less playful impulse 
to make some one perform by getting him to respond 
in some way. 

The possession of any peculiarity of body, mind, 
temper, clothes or family relationship is almost sure to 
attract the attention of companions and result sooner 
or later in receiving some sort of special notice and 
treatment. This is especially true of boys among whom, 
as a rule, every one has some nickname, " Fatty," 
"Slim," "Shorty," "Pouts," Eeddy," "Bossy," that 
is suggested by some corresponding or contrasting pecu- 
liarity, physical or mental. Sometimes the peculiarity 
is a matter of pride, while more frequently it is at fi.rst 
a source of mortification and anger, but usually the boy 
adjusts himself to it more or less completely and good- 
naturedly. Very frequently a boy or girl conceals pecu- 
liarities that he or she knows will be noticed and com- 
mented upon and often suffers untold agonies when 
compelled to do or wear something that is not custom- 
ary among mates. What to parents seems only a fool- 
ish notion or pure contrariness, may be to the boy or 
girl a matter of vital moment in which honor among 
companions is at stake. 



182 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

Fear of being teased becomes one of the strongest 
regulating influences in the life of the child, and is 
only slightly less in adult life. Kidicule often wins 
where threats and even severe punishments fail. To a. 
very sensitive child, teasing is a great source of mis- 
ery, yet it has its value in leading him to suppress 
phases of personality that would otherwise become too 
prominent, and in giving him practice in depending 
upon himself and maintaining his peace of mind in spite 
of what others may do or say. Probably there have 
been few strong and effective personalities who have 
not found, when children, how to meet teasing. The 
teasing should come, however, from equals rather than 
from adults. 

The sense of humor is very closely related to the 
teasing instinct. It may be regarded as a milder and 
more intellectual form of the tendency to enjoy seeing 
another do useless or unusual things in response to 
what some one else does or says. 

The sense of humor is a product of the play impulse, 
as are also the fine arts. Nothing more quickly brings 
people upon a common ground than to share in carrying 
out some fundamental impulse, such as playing together. 
To enjoy a humorous situation with others is like play- 
ing with them. A well-developed sense of humor is one 
of the most important characteristics of a teacher who 
is to get into sympathetic touch with her pupils. The 
place of humor as an educational means and end has 
been sadly neglected. Many a disturbing situation may 
be quickly changed into a pleasant incident, and at the 
same time imdesirable tendencies checked, by a good- 
natured remark showing the absurdity of what a pupil 
has done or is intending to do. Humor instead of being 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 183 

suppressed in the schoolroom should be cultivated. 
Humorous stories and witty selections should be given 
a place in reading lessons and children should be taught 
in such a way that they will appreciate the more refined 
forms of humor and wit. 

When, however, humor takes the form of sarcasm it 
becomes a weapon instead of an educational instrument. 
Equals may use it in an intellectual combat, but a teacher, 
never with good results. Immediate results of a certain 
kind may be secured by it, but at the same time it 
wounds in a way that can only be classed as cowardly 
and cruel — sometimes more cruel than actual slashing 
with a knife. 

Perception. During this period the child's power of 
perception is further refined and developed by repeated 
observation in the case of familiar objects and by ex- 
perience with new objects. In the case of new objects 
the child usually notices the object as a whole or some 
striking characteristic of it. Only gradually does he 
learn to analyze and perceive essential characteristics. 
After an object has been analyzed and parts or charac- 
teristics named the child can no longer perceive it as a 
whole ; e. g., after analyzing flowers a good deal one 
cannot avoid seeing stamens, pistils and petals. The 
child soon forms standard ideas of the true appearance 
of objects and learns to know what sensations most 
surely mean the presence of such objects. Further ex- 
perience in perceiving those which are familiar, results 
simply in more accurate discrimination and quicker per- 
ception of the meaning of sensations, with more of a 
tendency to ignore all sensations that an object gives, 
except those that imply the standard appearance. There 
is thus a double process going on aU the time, leading 



184 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

on the one hand to the noting of certain elements of the 
whole, and on the other, to ignoring those that are not 
significant to the individual. This is well illustrated by 
the contrast between the perceptual habits of a rapid 
reader who continually notices the form of words less and 
less, and the printer or proof-reader who perceives more 
and more clearly the size, shape and relations of letters. 

A child's perception of objects may be either more 
or less accurate than those of an adult. In lifting weights, 
for example, the adult is more subject to illusions caused 
by difference in size when there is no difference in the 
weight of objects that appear to be of the same material, 
than are children. The child has not, as yet, so fully ac- 
quired the habit of putting forth just the amount of 
effort suggested as necessary by the visual appearances 
of objects, hence he is less subject to illusions in lifting 
such weights than are adults. In the case of the sound 
of words the conditions are similar. The adult's percep- 
tions of vocal sounds have been standardized to such an 
extent that the real sound uttered is not heard, but in- 
stead some word that it resembles and suggests. For 
example, the nonsense syllable, " nog," may be heard 
correctly by children while adults will hear it variously 
as " log," " now," " gnaw," etc. 

The child has had less experience than adults in per- 
ceiving objects at various distances and hence is unable 
to judge of the size or real character of objects seen at 
a great distance. Horses at a distance, for instance, may 
be thought to be as small as dogs. On the other hand, 
where the apparent size of an object is dependent on 
the arrangement of lines in a picture, indicating perspec- 
tive, the child's judgment of the comparative length 
of lines and size of the figures in the foreground and 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 185 

background may be better than the adult's, because 
the adult judges more by the comparative size of the 
objects suggested than by the lines on the paper. 

In the perception of words and letters, the child at 
first perceives them as wholes or notes some one striking 
characteristic. This is shown by the fact that children 
readily note the similarity between print and script and 
easily change from reading one to the other. The first 
effort is usually to identify by means of similarities and 
then later to discriminate differences. The latter process 
is usually emphasized when the child begins to spell 
and write words. He may, at a certain stage of learning 
to read and write, perceive more accurately than adults. 
An adult, in reading, looks at words, not to see just how 
they are formed, but to get the meaning they suggest 
and when enough of the form is perceived to suggest 
the meaning, further perception is unnecessary. He, 
therefore, often overlooks misspellings which a child 
may notice. The small extent to which one observes the 
details of the forms of words is indicated by the fact 
that one can read nearly as well when the lower half of 
the line of print is covered. 

Again the child often notices similarities unnoticed 
by adults and this is due to the same cause that make? 
it possible to see resemblances in members of the same 
family, which close friends do not notice. 

In general throughout this whole period, the child is 
establishing more firmly perceptual habits in connection 
with familiar objects and experiences and is acquiring 
new perceptions in the lines of the hitherto unfamiliar, 
and hence he becomes more subject to illusions in some 
respects and more discriminating and accurate in others. 
In some cases illusions are reversed ; for example, a 



186 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

child wlien first riding in a carriage, boat or car, sees 
objects as moving when it is his own position that is 
changing, while in the familiar train illusion an adult 
when looking at a passing train seems to perceive his 
own train as moving in an opposite direction. 

Tests with ink blots show that children in the lower 
grades perceive them as pictures of objects more readily 
than adults. In the higher grades there is a critical 
stage in which the child does not see the blots as pic- 
tures but as mere blots. Older children and adults per- 
ceive them as blots but at the same time they can im- 
agine something that they represent. 

Probably one of the most important developments in 
perception during this period is in the unification of 
space perception. The child has previously acquired a 
standard of real form suggested by the various appear- 
ances of objects, but he does not as yet perceive clearly 
the relation of parts to each other and of these objects 
to others that he cannot see. He has to learn the rela- 
tion of angles and of length of lines to the shape of 
figures as wholes. He klso probably has a very indefi- 
nite idea of the relation of the rooms in a building to 
each other, although he has frequently been in all of 
them. He may readily find his way to places by the 
routes that he has previously taken, yet know nothing 
of the real space relation of the two points connected 
by the route. 

At the beginning of this period he may know the 
significance of up and down, front and back and perhaps 
right and left, but may have little idea of space rela- 
tions not directly concerned with himself and his own 
movements. It is for this reason that much attention 
needs to be given to having the child form a good per- 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 187 

ceptual basis of space relations in order that he may 
form correct ideas of space relations when he studies 
geography. He needs to get used to certain stand- 
ards of reference, such as right and left, north and 
south, and to learn to appreciate representations of 
such relations. He needs also a good deal of experience 
with standard units of measure, such as foot, mile, etc., 
so that he will know what they mean in terms of visual 
sensation and of muscular movement. 

The following quotation from Triplett (Amer. Jour. 
Psy. vol. xiii) illustrates how difficult it is for some 
children to form ideas of space relations and the way 
of indicating them in geography. " I used to think that 
rivers never could flow north because that would be 
flowing up hill, as north was always up on the map." 
" For years I had to imagine myself whittling to de- 
termine which was the right and left hand." " By 
thinking of the hand which used to have so many warts 
on it as the right." " Am equally right and left handed 
and have to place myself in the position in which I 
learned the difference between them." "I know my 
right hand by thinking on which side I used to have 
a pocket in my dress." 

In the child's perceptive development, purpose plays 
an important role. Only the striking characteristics at- 
tract the attention, unless a more careful observation of 
the object is a means to some desired end. In the old 
type of object lesson in which the various characteris- 
tics of objects are noted, the child has nothing but an 
artificial interest. If weight, color, or hardness or any 
other quality needs to be observed in any object in or- 
der to make it serve some purpose of the child, he will 
quickly learn to discriminate that characteristic. 



188 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

Action and use, what the thing can do or what can 
be done with it, are to him the important things and, 
aside from the unusual and the striking, are what direct 
his perceptual development. -Esthetic pleasure and cu- 
riosity lead to some observations other than those of 
use, but there is, during this stage, little interest in the 
mere physical qualities of objects unrelated to anything 
else. It is a mistaken waste of time, therefore, to at- 
tempt to develop perceptive power by having children 
observe in a formal way and without any purpose to be 
accomplished, all the qualities of objects. Instead, the 
children should have some end to be achieved in deal- 
ing with objects and should observe their characteris- 
tics in order to attain that end. In the lower grades 
the ends should more frequently be practical, while in 
the higher they may be more theoretical, in the sense 
that general truths or their applications are being 
sought. Manual activities give opportunity for both. 
The general principles involved may be made more 
prominent in the higher grades. 

In promoting perceptual development it is important 
that the child should have plenty of opportunity to ob- 
serve the use of standard units of measure, such as 
pound, quart and inch, and to tell the value of them in 
gaining his own ends. Standard images and concepts 
he is to use later are thus given a sensory basis and a 
personal significance such as cannot be obtained by any 
amount of study and work with tables of weights and 
measures, or by formal demonstrations of the relation 
of one unit to another. Standard geometrical forms 
should also be made practically familiar through their 
use in playful and constructive activity. Standard units 
for measuring time should also be brought to the child's 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 189 

attention in connection with things that he is doing. 
His attention may also profitably be called to common 
rates of movement that may serve as standards of com- 
parison in imderstanding descriptions, e. g., how long it 
takes to walk a mile. 

Imagination. In the previous period the child has 
developed a great number of free images and has amused 
himself by all sorts of playful fancies. At the beginning 
of this period his imagination is vivid but not accurate. 
Mental images may be shifted and recombined, in some 
respects more readily than in the case of adults who 
have become so habituated to certain common arrange- 
ments of imagery that they cannot readily change them. 
Few adults, for example, can make such absurd com- 
binations as did the author of " Alice in Wonderland," 
while to children they are not at all difficult. As the 
previous period was marked especially by the develop- 
ment of freedom of imagery, this period needs to be 
marked by the development of regulated and accurate im- 
agery. In order that the child may become acquainted 
with the world beyond the immediate surroundings, he 
must no longer arrange simply according to his fancy, 
but must learn to represent accurately according to de- 
scription. 

A large part of the child's learning, especially in 
school, during this period is mediated learning. Through 
the medium of words, pictures, maps, etc., he is being 
made acquainted with an environment not actually pre- 
sent to sense perception. It is necessary, therefore, if he 
is to know this environment, that he shall form accurate 
images and that he shall arrange these images correctly. 
In doing this he needs to have well-established standards 
of form, size, etc., and }ie must be familiar with the 



190 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

more conventional standard units of measure, so that 
he may represent things in their real appearance and 
relation. 

Pictures are a great help in getting ideas of simple 
objects different from those that he has seen, but not in 
getting ideas of size and relations. These can only be 
obtained by acts of constructive imagination. The child 
must take his experience of hiUs, brooks and villages 
and, with the aid of pictures and descriptions, enlarge 
and modify them into mountains, rivers and cities. The 
child is being prepared for the exercise of constructive 
imagination needed in studying history and geography 
when he is listening to descriptions of objects, persons 
and events familiar to him, or still better, when he is 
relating experiences that he has had, with definite speci- 
fications as to places, characteristics and relations of 
persons and objects. 

At first, in order that he may foUow accurately any 
description, it is necessary that much of what is named 
shall already be familiar. The experiences of persons 
that he knows, or of other persons in places that are 
already familiar, are more interesting and better followed, 
than when both are new. During this period, however, 
he develops the power to picture scenes no part of which 
is familiar, but the terms must have definite meaning to 
him. In describing strange scenes familiar standards 
must be used. Even adults find it difficult to follow a 
description in which there are several unfamiliar objects 
named and unusual terms used, such as metres instead 
of yards. It is a period, therefore, in which standard 
units of measure should come to be known, not only in 
the form of tables, but in their application to objects and 
descriptions. This is absolutely necessary if figures used 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 191 

in descriptions are to lead to the construction of correct 
pictures. Geography and history mean little or nothing 
without effective activity of the constructive imagina- 
tion. The child's imagination must be directed by some 
knowledge of real size and relation, or history and geo- 
graphy are not distinguished from fairy tales. In the 
latter, free play of fancy and aesthetic pleasure dominate, 
while in the former the real character of things and the 
laws governing their relations are to be realized by 
means of the imagination, which relates and combines 
standard images according to the descriptions. Facts 
of geography and history may, however, be presented in 
such a way as to give almost the same pleasure as Gul- 
liver's tales, with the additional feeling that realities are 
being described. 

In geography, the map with its conventional symbols 
of mountains, rivers, etc., is really to a considerable ex- 
tent a language, whose symbols must be learned and their 
meaning understood by means of the constructive im- 
agination. If this language is thoroughly learned, the 
child, when' he looks at the map, will see rivers and 
cities instead of mere crooked lines and dots as is so 
often the case. 

The need of better training in constructive imagination 
is indicated by such facts as the following. A young lady, 
in answering a question about the Himalaya mountains, 
said, " They are the highest mountains in the world and 
so are sometimes called the backbone of the world. Some 
of them are as much as five hundred feet high.'* A class 
of normal students, questioned as to the size of a gallon 
measure, gave height and diameter ranging from four by 
six inches to twenty by thirty inches, and when asked 
how long it would take to walk across the bridge over the 



192 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

Mississippi River at St. Louis, gave times ranging from 
five minutes to three days. One thought the river too 
wide to have a bridge across it, although she must have 
known that trains cross the river. AU children, even 
those who have had a great deal of experience in the 
lower grades, in using units of measure and standards 
of form and quantity, need practice in imaging them 
and in combining and relating them to each other ac- 
cording to descriptions. 

Often a child needs something more than words to 
stimulate his imagination. Diagrams, pictures, models 
or sample objects often serve as effective stimuli. Care 
should be taken, however, that they are used as stimuli 
to the imagination instead of as models to be reproduced. 
A rough diagram with some description is therefore 
often better than good pictures only. In a large propor- 
tion of cases students memorize pictures and maps in- 
stead of constructing what they represent. It is not 
desirable, however, in drawing and other subjects to re- 
quire objects to be looked at again and again after the 
child is able to image all that it is necessary that he 
shall image in order to state or represent what is desired. 
His power to use images is improved by using them, 
more than by depending upon repeated perceptions. 

Memory. This period is generally supposed to be in 
a special sense a period of ready memory. In many 
lines children can learn as easily or even more easily 
than adults and what they learn is also well retained. 
Memory tests show a gradual increase in memory for 
words from the beginning to the end of this period. The 
increase may, however, be largely accounted for by 
greater familiarity with the memory material and greater 
facility in reproducing what has been learned. 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 193 

It is probable that there is no real change in the 
capacity to receive and reproduce new impressions but 
only in the ability to group and recall them and to assist 
memory by knowledge. Eecent studies by Guillet have 
shown that a child of two years learned the names of 
birds, animals and other things about half as rapidly 
and retained them as well as his father did the corre- 
sponding Japanese names. It is almost impossible to find 
memory material for tests, that will be equally new to 
all persons. Even GuiUet's two-year-old child learned 
English names of animals more readily than he did 
German names and still more readily than the unfamil- 
iar French names. Experiments show that children of 
six years of age learn Greek letters just about as quickly 
as adults who are unfamiliar with Greek. It is probable 
that a child's memory for words reaches its climax before 
entering the teens. He also probably never has more 
capacity for remembering what he has himseK observed 
or for remembering what he has vividly imagined. 

When it comes to memory of abstract truths, however, 
the child's memory seems, to the teacher, strangely in- 
efficient. The words expressing the general truth may 
sometimes be easily memorized and reproduced, but the 
truths themselves seem to have little place in the child's 
mental activity. Early in this period the child has 
become sufficiently familiar with language material to 
be able to remember words and their combinations in 
sentences with great facility. In many cases he finds 
that he can so much more easily memorize words than 
he can think clearly the concepts they stand for, or re- 
present in imagination what they describe, that he learns 
words, instead of incorporating the ideas they stand for 
with ideas that are already familiar to him. Thus words, 



194 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

instead of being a medium by means of which the wider 
world environment is brought to his mind and made a 
part of his mental experience, become a series of mean- 
ingless or slightly significant sounds and forms. 

Only after some years' experience in reading and in 
trying to reproduce in other words what he has learned, 
can a child successfully do so. He cannot readily hold 
in mind the ideas corresponding to the words and find 
new words in which to express them. He can best do 
this if he is led to imagine vividly what is described. 
Few children are able even at the close of this period 
to gain abstract truths by means of words and then ex- 
press those truths in other words. 

The child's seemingly poor memory for abstract truths 
is, in part at least, merely a case of not being able to 
remember what has never been learned, since the words 
have conveyed to him no real meaning. If the thing to 
be remembered can be represented in some concrete 
form the child may attain great facility in remembering 
it, as is shown by the remarkable ability of many child- 
ren to produce stories in their own words, although 
the same children are unable to recall a comparatively 
short arithmetical process or an abstract explanation ot 
physical phenomena. As has previously been said, this 
period is one especially suited for introducing the child 
to a broader world environment, and to the experiences 
of people in other places and ages, and for acquiring 
the truths that man has discovered. It is especially 
unfortunate, therefore, that this rich environment which 
can be reached and made a part of the child's mental 
life only by imaginative and conceptual activities, should 
so often be brought to him only very imperfectly because 
all his energies are occupied with what, under the re- 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 195 

quirements, is to the cMld an easier task, that of mem- 
orizing symbols. 

So-caUed memory training, which is often wholly ver- 
bal, results in most cases in a weak foundation for all the 
child's subsequent knowledge. What is lacking during 
this period is not usually training in verbal memory, but 
training that leads to the forming of more accurate 
pictures and concepts in response to words, and to gain- 
ing power to recall at will what has been learned and 
in the right connection. The chief place for verbal mem- 
ory is in memorizing literary selections in which the 
form is as important as the content. In nearly all other 
cases imaging and understanding rather than memoriz- 
ing are of most importance. Nor should they be neg- 
lected when memorizing literally, for memory is greatly 
helped by knowledge. 

Training is also needed in locating, especially in time, 
memory experiences, and in voluntary selection and re- 
call of significant facts without giving aU the unimpor- 
tant facts associated with them. The aim should not be 
so much to deal with large masses of memory material 
as to select, learn and arrange what is important and to 
reproduce it at will. 

Concepts and Thinking. During this period the 
growth of concepts is very similar to that of the pre- 
ceding period, except as it is modified by the efforts of 
the teacher. The chief difference is, that in the third 
period, the growth of concepts was closely related to 
the perceptual activity of the child, while during the 
fourth it is dependent chiefly upon representative ac- 
tivity. Through the medium of language and pictures 
the child's experience is, in imagination, immensely ex- 
tended and he becomes acquainted in a mediated way 



196 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

with many new things, conditions, activities and person- 
ages. The child's conceptual activity is still, however, 
closely related to the concrete. Just as he has previously 
learned by perceptual activity some of the fundamental 
laws governing things and persons, so he now acquires 
similar general truths regarding the world that he knows 
only through the activity of his constructive imagina- 
tion. 

The following definitions of children in this stage 
show that abstract thinking has little place in their con- 
sciousness, especially during the first part. 

Children of four or five, when asked what a chair or 
other object is, are likely to repeat the word or point 
to the object or tell something about a particular one ; 
e. g., " It is a chair," or, " That is a chair," or, '* I have 
a rocking chair." Early in the fourth period they are 
likely to state the use of the thing, what it does or what 
can be done to it. "A knife is to cut with." "A school 
is to learn things in." " A bee flies," " A bee makes 
honey." Or in some cases they use a more general term 
such as, " A horse is an animal." " A bee is a bug." 

At about the close of the first half of the period they 
more often use larger terms, state definite use and may 
give some description. " A chair is a seat." " A chair 
is to sit on." " A chair is made of wood and has four 
legs." " A bee is an insect." " A school is a place where 
you go to learn." "A bee is an animal that makes 
honey." 

Near the close of this period more general terms are 
used and with greater accuracy, and the descriptions 
are more varied, detailed and abstract. " A bee is a 
flying insect." " A chair is a stool having four legs 
used to sit on." " A chair is a seat with a support at 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 197 

the back." " A school is a building in which know- 
ledge is taught." " A bee is a small insect that flies 
and makes honey." Abstract words may still, however, 
have concrete definitions in the form of examples ; e. g., 
"Trouble means when you tease anybody." "When 
you do something wrong you get into trouble." " Po- 
liteness is to tip your hat at others you know." 

The child acquires a great number of general truths 
regarding the world outside of his immediate environ- 
ment, and regarding the necessary means or rules to be 
followed in his constructive activities and in all deal- 
ing with persons and things. He thus gains many of 
the facts and principles involved in the various indus- 
tries and classified in the sciences, and at a later period 
he may form accurate abstract ideas. He does not, how- 
ever, during this period, think these truths in a com- 
pletely generalized and abstract way. Either with or 
without concrete experience, he may be led to acquire 
some of the language of science and to present the ap- 
pearance of possessing scientific knowledge, but in 
most cases he is almost wholly incapable of genuine ab- 
stract thought. It is a period well suited to language 
study, nature study and constructive manual activity, 
as well as for learning of people and things in other 
lands and other ages, but it is most emphatically not a 
time for studying language as a science or even for the 
scientific study of mathematics and of nature. The 
study of grammar, arithmetic and physics as sciences 
during this period is likely to injure the child's mind 
much more than it develops it. The child may learn 
the fundamental processes of arithmetic very success- 
fully, but he is totally unable to appreciate the scien- 
tific principles involved. He may learn to use such 



198 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

terms as dividend, divisor and quotient and how to find 
one when the others are given, but he is not likely to 
appreciate the general principles involved until near 
the next period. Division is to him simply a mode of 
dealing with problems in which the process may be re- 
versed in order to get the term asked for. The child 
may readily appreciate that if ten bushels of corn cost 
$7.50, he may find the cost of one bushel by dividing 
by ten and he may similarly solve other concrete prob- 
lems. But until near the close of this period it is likely 
to be very difficult for him to appreciate a general 
statement, such as, " If the cost of many things is 
given, the cost of one thing may be found by dividing 
the cost of many by the number of things." When he 
has reached the stage when he can readily appreciate 
such general statements, he is ready to begin to study 
mathematics as a science and algebraical symbols may 
gradually be introduced to indicate the quantities in- 
volved in general problems. 

After the child enters school, the development of 
his concepts is so much influenced by his teaching that 
it is difficult to distinguish the effects of training from 
natural tendencies. It may be said in general, however, 
that whereas before going to school, ideas grow accord- 
ing as opportunities and interests are favorable or 
otherwise, in school they are forced, cut to a pattern 
and to a considerable extent built. The course of study 
and the lesson planning seem to make it necessary 
that a new concept such as latitude, fractions, gov- 
ernment, verb, etc., shall be acquired within a day or 
two, instead of gradually growing out of experience in 
locating places on the globe, dealing with parts of 
things, groups, etc. Even if concrete material is used, 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 199 

attention is often at once called to essential character- 
istics, names given and terms defined, and the pupil is 
thus " given " a rather fully developed " concept " in a 
few minutes. Such ideas, although they can be ex- 
pressed accurately in the words of the definition that 
has been learned, and perhaps can be used for some 
purposes, lack the substantial meaning associated with 
ideas that have grown naturally and slowly out of ex- 
periences, and have been fixed by interest and by the 
consequences of acting upon certain forms of the idea. 
Only one who has had much experience in earning and 
spending money has a substantial conception of the 
value of a dollar. 

It is true that the modern child has so much to learn 
that a more rapid mode of learning than that of expe- 
rience is needed in the school. It is also true that it is 
possible to obtain quite usable ideas with only a little 
concrete experience. It is one of the chief purposes of 
education to give children ability to acquire good con- 
cepts in a short time. This purpose is often defeated, 
however, by the attempt to get them to do this very 
soon after they enter school and to get about the same 
sort of ideas that adults have. The demand that so 
much and of a certain standard shall be learned in each 
grade, has led teachers to try to " give " children ideas 
and to get them to learn certain expressions, instead of 
to foster the growth of ideas in their minds. The more 
the former policy is followed the more it needs to be, 
and children attain great proficiency in acquiring the 
appearance of knowledge while they lose the power to 
grow ideas in a natural way. 

The child's ideas of truth during this period are still 
closely related to his practical experiences, to the ex- 



200 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

periences of others of whom he has heard, and to the 
opinions of those around him. It is a period in which 
he often is very credulous and also very skeptical. His 
knowledge of life outside his immediate surroundings is 
wholly dependent upon the testimony of others and he 
is led by the supporting opinion of those whom he 
knows, to accept as true many wonderful things that 
he has never seen ; hence he may be ready to believe 
almost anything. This is well illustrated by his belief 
in superstitious signs and traditions. He is lacking in 
standards by which to judge of truth and depends upon 
the apparent belief of those he knows, regarding many 
things. He has, however, probably been tricked in va- 
rious ways by his elders and his mates and hence may 
have become skeptical regarding what is told him. He 
is very much inclined to test by experience, whenever 
possible, the truth of what he has been told and if he 
cannot make the test himself, to obtain confirmation 
from those in whom he has confidence or to secure ex- 
tra assurance from companions by requiring such state- 
ments as, " Honor bright," " Cross my heart," " Hope 
to die," etc. The following, quoted by Small (Ped. 
Sem. vol. vi, pp. 313-380), is a good illustration of 
skeptical testing of the statement of another : — 

" Children playing in a yard. John : ' Where 's my 
knife, Mary ? ' 

Mary : ' D'n'ow.' 

John : ' You know you have taken it.' 

Mary : ' I have n't got your old knife.' 

John : ' Then you have lost it.' 

Mary : ' I have not had your old knife. So there.' 

John : * Honor bright ? ' 

Mary : ' Honor bright.' 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 201 

John : ' Cross your heart ? ' 

Mary : ' Cross my heart.' 

John : ' Cross your heart and hope to die ? ' 

Mary : ' Cross my heart and hope to die.' 

John : ' Crook your little finger and hope the worms 
may eat you if you are telling a lie ? ' (Very slowly and 
impressively.) 

Mary left the company. She seemed very angry. Pre- 
sently she returned, threw the knife at her brother and 
started away. The children called after her, ' Oh, you 
said honor bright and cross my heart.' They did not 
play with her again for a week." 

At about the middle of this period there is likely to 
be some playful reasoning activity, shown in the child's 
interest in solving riddles and puzzles. There is also a 
good deal of reasoning in connection with practical 
affairs, but until near the close of this period the ten- 
dency to philosophical reflection and abstract reasoning 
is rarely any greater than, if as great as, it was for a time 
in the preceding period. The crude philosophical sys- 
tem that the child formed during the preceding period 
satisfies his intellectual needs, and he is interested in 
practical affairs rather than in truth itself or in ulti- 
mate explanations. The playful reasoning prepares the 
way for the more serious reasoning of the next period. 

Feelings and Will. The feelings during this period 
undergo no sudden or profound changes. The primitive 
emotions that are already present, remain and become 
connected with various objects and experiences and 
combine in various ways, but there is no distinctly new 
instinctive emotion unless it be that of rivalry, which 
becomes very prominent during this period. The germs 
of this emotion were perhaps shown in the enjoyment 



202 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

of power when showing off so as to attract the attention 
of others. Now it takes the more definite form of striving 
to keep up with or surpass others and plays a dominant 
part in the child's emotional and volitional life. 

The child's sentiments develop gradually under the 
influence of experience, teaching and example. The 
pleasant or unpleasant results associated with things 
and acts determine his sentiments toward them. He 
is also very much influenced by the expressed senti- 
ments of those whom he knows and of whom he 
reads. Teaching, in the form of general statements, 
has little influence unless tested by his own experience 
or illustrated by concrete experiences of others. Ideals 
of beauty, truth and goodness are largely determined 
by the child's surroundings and teaching, but his own 
experience in playing with his companions has much to 
do with his fundamental ideas of justice. 

In conduct, primitive influences stiU play a consider- 
able part, but many of his actions are controlled by 
habit, while comparatively few are the result of delib- 
erate volition. Involuntary decisions the child is greatly 
influenced by the pleasurable or painful results that are 
to be experienced, those that are immediate and cer- 
tain having much greater influence than those that are 
remote and doubtful. 

In deciding as to what is prudent or right a child may 
be greatly influenced by the thought of what persons he 
knows or has read of would do or have done, but he is 
only very slightly guided in his decision by abstract 
general principles of prudence and right, although 
those which are expressed in proverbs and precepts are 
sometimes influential. Only where general truths have 
been clearly associated with some striking concrete ex- 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 2ag 

perience do they have much living force in determining 
his volitional activity. Proverbs that arouse concrete 
pictures or general truths directly connected with an 
example may become powerful influences in moulding 
sentiment and directing action. The vivid phrase, 
" Finding is keeping," associated with the act, has had 
much more influence than the more abstract, " Honesty 
is the best policy," while, " If at first you don't succeed, 
try, try again," is more concrete and effective than, 
" Where there is a will there is a way." 

In developing the power to control his various ac- 
tivities, the child has greatly increased his will power. 
His achievements in this direction are most marked in 
the line of physical movements. In the former period 
he was pretty well satisfied if he could make movements 
of the general character necessary to accomplish his ends. 
Now he is not satisfied merely with being able to do 
things, but he must be able to do them as quickly, ac- 
curately and easily as any of his companions. In his 
competitive games and sports and his expressive activi- 
ties of speaking, writing, drawing and constructing, he 
develops a power of motor control sometimes rivaling 
that of adults. 

In his day dreaming and still more in his constructive 
imagining he acquires a considerable degree of control 
over his mental images. He has as yet, however, little 
power of controlling his emotions and trains of thought. 
In his plays, games, study and work he acquires some 
facility in directing his attention. His attention, if not 
held by the immediate object, is directed by the idea of 
the end to be gained. This idea is effective in propor- 
tion as the end is concrete, immediate and closely re- 
lated to instinctively desirable results. The child has 



204 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

within himself little power of voluntarily directing his 
attention at the request or command of another. His 
efforts in response to such a command often result in 
little more than assuming attitudes that he knows will 
be interpreted as signs of attention. 

Very rarely does a child have much voluntary control 
over his feelings. He may, however, acquire during this 
period, considerable indirect control of his feelings by 
controlling his expression of them and by occupying 
himself with other things. 

With many children the power to learn and to recall 
at will remains very limited during this period. In many 
children in the first half of this period as well as in the 
preceding, the effort to learn anything seems to interfere 
with, rather than to help, the learning process and the 
individual learns better incidentally than voluntarily. 
This condition sometimes persists in adults, who, when 
gripped by an idea, can do remarkable work but who 
cannot direct their efforts as they choose with any effec- 
tiveness. 

Whatever increases the child's facility in movement, 
imaging, remembering, attending, prepares the way for 
his voluntary control of these processes, increases his 
confidence in himself and adds to his wiU power, hence 
all physical and mental training is a means of develop- 
ing the will. Experience in choosing and directing ac- 
tion in accordance with choices is needed to develop 
freedom of voluntary control. 

Will power is gained, not merely by being induced in 
some way to make an effort, but by being directed in 
such a way as to succeed. In other words, will may to 
a certain extent be developed more by doing easy things 
than by doing things which, because of fatigue, lack of 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 205 

interest or want of knowledge, are difficult to do. The 
amount and degree of success, rather than the frequency 
and intensity of effort, make for progress in the develop- 
ment of volition. This progress is most shown, however, 
when difficult and disagreeable tasks are persisted in 
until the pleasures of success are obtained. 

When a child is fatigued or uninterested, even intense 
and honestly directed effort is likely to be either totally 
unsuccessful or result in the thing being done in a care- 
less or uneconomical way. Frequently ineffective modes 
of working are thus established in school because the 
children do not make sufficient effort to learn to do 
things in effective ways, and they thus form poor habits 
of working. A shorter time spent in concentrated effort 
accomplishes more, tends to better habits and strengthens 
the will. 

Will power is therefore developed through doing with 
concentration things that can be done effectively, for 
ends that are increasingly remote and that require the 
coordination of many activities before they can be se- 
cured. 

Obedience and Conformity to Law. This is the 
most important period for establishing the framework 
of character upon the basis previously laid, in such a 
way that it will endure the strain of adolescent changes 
and maintain its fundamental structure in the man that 
then develops. Every child must be conformable to law 
yet free in some respects. Only a well-developed per- 
sonality, in whose character law has become an inherent 
part, can be a law unto himself. The " eternal must " 
lies back of the individual and only after it has been a 
part of life's experience can it be an effective basis of 
the ideal of duty. Nothing can be more unfortunate for 



206 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

an individual than to be governed by no law save that 
of his own desires. During this period of development is 
the time for the establishment of standards of conduct 
both in the form of more or less blind habits and in 
the form of conscious ideas and ideals. 

There is reason therefore in the claim that the chief 
habit developed and duty taught during this period should 
be that of obedience. It is a mistake, however, to sup- 
pose that obedience is the only way to develop the habit 
and ideals of conformity to law. The most effective way 
of bringing this about is by incidental habit formation and 
by conformity to customs of people among whom the 
child lives. If everybody follows certain customs, e. g., 
wearing clothes on the street, it will seem to the child 
almost inconceivable that one should do otherwise. The 
same is true of many of the most fundamental moral 
and religious customs. The child who sees nearly every 
one conforming to these customs and expressing horror 
or fear at the few cases of failure to conform, will as a 
rule follow them without question, even though the act 
is disagreeable in itself. The child, like the savage, 
readily conforms blindly and super stitiously to well- 
established customs and such conformity is the funda- 
mental basis of character and will. 

It is necessary to require obedience because it is de- 
sirable that children should conform to a somewhat dif- 
ferent set of regulations from those customary among 
adults. This is really necessary because of the fact that 
the child is living a shielded and protected life and is 
preparing for the necessary activities of a later stage. 
A certain amount of compulsion is therefore necessary 
during the school period in order that the child may be 
fitted not only for the tasks of manhood and woman- 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 207 

hood but for the position of a useful citizen in a so- 
ciety where every man does not " what is right in his 
own eyes " but conforms to the expressed wiU of society 
in the form of laws. Obedience must at first be to the 
child personal obedience, but it should become more 
and more plain to him that the one he obeys is not 
forcing his own wishes upon him but is merely the en- 
forcer of laws that must also be obeyed by others. The 
reason for these laws does not usually need to be ex- 
plained in detail at this time. If he feels that they are 
fixed, as are customs, that is sufficient. A certain 
amount of obedience and conformity to customs and 
laws which are recognized as fundamental, though not 
understood, is of great value in guarding against the 
tendency to make pleasure the standard, and in prepa- 
ration for forming and adhering to higher ideals of 
duty and right. 

Law and customs are very effectively impressed upon 
the child by the formality and regularity that character- 
ize railroads, factories, and all well-regulated societies, 
especially those of the church and of the school. Sys- 
tem can easily be carried to an extreme in school, but a 
certain amount of formality in passing in and out, in 
following a definite program, and in controlling one's 
position and movements in school, etc., is of great value 
in developing the tendency to regulate conduct. This 
must not be too detailed or continue too long, or the 
tendency to react and engage in totally unregulated 
action will become very strong, as is sometimes shown 
when there is strict discipline in the school and anarchy 
on the playground, or anarchy in the schoolroom when 
the teacher goes away. There should be some regulation 
and some freedom both in school and out. Regulation 



208 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

in school should be for facilitating work, and on the 
playground for increasing the joy of play. 

With a certain minimum of blind obedience and con- 
formity to customs, the child needs much enlightening 
experience and teaching. He gets this first in coming in 
contact with nature's forces in the earlier stages of 
development, though too often parents intervene in 
order to shield him from bruises or burns and to save 
him trouble, and thus unintentionally they prevent his 
getting a full realization of the necessity of conforming 
to nature's laws. 

In this fourth period he needs further experience with 
nature, such as may best be found on a farm, but may 
be gained in constructive work and in school gardening, 
as well as in sports or games. To get the full benefit of 
such exercises he must be permitted to make some mis- 
takes and find out for himself the laws to which he must 
conform if he is to succeed in doing what he wishes 
with the various kinds of materials that he uses. Direc- 
tion by the teacher as to how he is to proceed in each 
case will not develop knowledge of, and conformity to, 
fundamental laws of nature, although it may get things 
done as she wishes. 

Work which is begun and carried on because of the 
desire to reach a certain end, is especially valuable in 
developing will power. This is true whether the end is 
to avoid disagreeable results or to secure ends positively 
attractive. In both cases the end to be gained and the 
conditions and materials connected with attaining it 
direct the activity. Everything that the person does in 
such self-directed work is in conformity to laws whose 
necessity the person himseK perceives. He is conform- 
ing, not to the wiU of another which may change at any 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 209 

time, but to inevitable, unchanging laws, whicb be learns 
sooner or later it is useless to resist and foolish not to 
recognize, A child may in anger destroy what he is 
trying to make, but after much experience in construct- 
ing successfully, either alone or with the aid of helpful 
suggestions from others, he takes care to study the ma- 
terials and conditions and to direct his actions accord- 
ingly. 

Although there is some natural objection by children 
to set tasks whose immediate advantages are not appre- 
ciated, yet such work also has a value. A child enjoys 
much more his periods of free self -direction that follow 
periods of required and directed activity. If left to his 
own resources all the time he wearies of his plays and 
is perhaps miserable because he does not know what he 
wants to do. He may therefore come to prefer direction 
part of the time ; and such temporary subordinating of 
his will to authority, rule, custom or routine, if wisely 
timed and directed, prepares for more vigorous and en- 
joyable self-direction. 

To a certain extent, children during this period like 
to be directed part of the time, without caring to have 
any explanation of why they should do what is required. 
If they are made to realize that it must be done, they 
submit and rather enjoy it. They will submit as a rule 
to direction and control by any adult who assumes it 
and consistently exercises it in certain well-defined lines 
that leave the child free to do as he pleases within cer- 
tain understood limits. Such regulation of one's con- 
duct in certain respects by authority is useful all through 
life, and may best be established as a permanent habit 
of mind and will during this period. Consistent, self- 
respecting exercise of authority, with unvarying en- 



210 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

forcemeiit, easily inspires respect and leads to fixed 
habits. On the other hand, indefinite, poorly enforced 
demands utterly fail. Capricious exercise of authority 
leads to persional resentment, while continuous direction, 
extending to every detail, leads either to rebellion against 
all law, or to slavish conformity to direction, and in- 
ability to direct one's own actions at any time. It is 
highly desirable therefore that authoritative control, so 
far as assumed, should be consistently and vigorously 
exercised. 

Since in civilized society many things are obtained in 
indirect ways, it is necessary that the child shall early 
learn the part that money plays in securing things that 
are desired. Instead of being raised pr made, most 
things can be obtained by giving money for them. It is 
as important that the child shall know how much money 
must be given for various articles, as it is to know just 
what process must be gone through in order to make 
toys or raise fruits. He needs to know also what process 
must be gone through in order to get any given amount 
of money. 

Before a child enters school he should have a regular 
allowance to spend as he pleases, and means should be 
taken to help him to learn that things of more lasting 
value may be obtained by saving money for a while 
than by spending it as fast as it is obtained. At the be- 
ginning of this period, if not before, he should also be 
given opportunity to earn money, being paid approx- 
imately what the work would cost if an adult did it. 
He should also be held to a fairly high standard of 
performance, approaching as nearly as practicable that 
recognized in the industries, in order that he may get 
ideals and habits comf ormable to conditions as they exist 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 211 

in society. No amount of study of problems in arithmetic 
can give such intellectual and moral training as experi- 
ence in earning and spending money. 

A boy who was given an allowance from the time 
he was about four years old was also required to per- 
form regularly certain household tasks. He used the 
money to buy presents and whatever things he desired. 
He also paid for whatever articles he broke or de- 
stroyed. If he failed to perform his task well he was 
liable to lose his allowance, while if he did extra well 
or saved his money to the end of the week, he was 
allowed s(5mething extra; but if more than a cer- 
tain amount was spent for candy, the allowance was 
less for the week in proportion to the extra amount 
spent. He was not allowed to expect pay for everything 
he was asked to do, but he was frequently allowed an 
agreed price for the performance of special tasks. He 
spent little money for candy and bought a good many 
little things that he wished. He did not, however, 
appreciate the general value of money well enough to 
care much for opportunities to earn money except when 
he had in mind a specific thing that he wished to buy. 
On the other hand, his sister a little older, treated in 
the same way, spent her money as fast as she got it 
and rarely bought anything of permanent value. 

When the boy was seven years old, he was anxious 
to buy a bicycle and began to save five dollars for a 
second-hand one. He was given many extra jobs, but 
sometimes found it hard to work for something that 
seemed so distant. He once asked to be made to work, 
but his request was refused. He said : " The only way 
I can make myself work is by scolding myself. I got 
myself to work that way to-day." After he had earned 



212 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

five dollars, a new bicycle was got for him that he was 
to work to pay for. A bargain was made with him to 
pay him a dollar a week, on condition that he would do 
whatever tasks were given him without fussing or delay. 
This involved the same principle as working for a 
salary, instead of working only by the job when he 
wanted the money and liked the job. He did very well 
for a number of weeks, but as the amount of work to 
be done became less as winter came on he showed an 
occasional tendency to object to doing what he was 
told. He was reminded of the contract but finally said 
he would give it up and work by the job, and he was al- 
lowed to do so. He was then paid whatever the tasks 
assigned were worth. The amount earned each week 
was much less than he had been paid, and soon he 
wished that he had not thrown up his contract. He was 
not however allowed to return to the salary plan, and it 
was many weeks before he earned enough to pay for his 
wheel. The next year he began to get a little careless 
about leaving his wheel out and was told that he would 
have to attend to it himself without reminder or it 
would be likely to get wet. He forgot it and from 
being in the rain, then in the sun, one wheel was badly 
warped. It cost him two dollars to get it fixed. He 
paid it with regret but without complaint. 

From associating with other persons and especially 
from playing with other children, the child learns some 
of the fundamental laws of human intercourse, and 
this is preeminently the period in which this know- 
ledge is to be obtained in a practical way by such as- 
sociation. Conformity to law is now emphasized in all 
forms of organized play in which there are certain 
rules of the game to be followed. It is in the greater 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 213 

pleasure of following rules in games, instead of each 
doing as he pleases, that real love for law finds its be- 
ginning, and the child willingly subordinates his own 
wishes to the rules of the game. No teaching of civics 
or conformity to school regulation can give such train- 
ing in respect for law and the habit of conformity to 
social regulation as is gained from engaging in well- 
regulated play. One who associates much with people 
on equal terms realizes that he must recognize human 
nature in dealing with persons, just as he must recog- 
nize the nature of materials in constructing things. He 
finds that it does not pay to get angry at people, but 
does pay to study them and treat them in the way that 
will bring the desired result. 

The child gains much of value in his moral and will- 
development not only from inanimate objects, from 
working with plants and from associating with compan- 
ions, but also from experiences in caring for pets, 
playing with and teaching them. Imaginary pets such 
as dolls give something of the same training but in a 
playful way. In dealing with actual pets that must be 
fed and treated in accordance with their nature, more 
serious study and more exact conformity to conditions, 
times and the real nature of what is dealt with, are 
necessary, and the effect upon wiU-development is cor- 
respondingly great. While the preceding period is the 
one in which dolls and toys have their greatest value, 
this is the special time for gaining valuable experience 
from pets, and the next period gives more complete 
knowledge of social laws. 



214 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 



EXERCISES 

1. Does a competitive exercise appeal as much to a first as 
to a fifth-grade child ? 

2. Illustrate the comparative influence of the opinion of 
teachers and of companions in the first grade and in the fifth. 

3. Describe any instance you have observed of the effects 
upon a child of being introduced to a new environment. 

4. Discuss the desirability and practicability of correlating 
the social influences of home, school, street, library, church, 
etc., in the education of children. 

5. Discuss the relative advantages of individual and group 
competition and the various ways of utilizing the tendency in 
school. 

6. Describe a number of instances of chumming and of 
leadership in children of this age, and the effects upon those 
concerned. 

7. Describe your experience with a child who was much 
inclined to tease, and with one very sensitive to being teased. 

8. Make a list of humorous literature suitable for children. 

9. Make three or four ink blots and have the children tell 
what they are pictures of. 

10. Make a list of words that children most often confuse 
in reading and spelling and see if you can tell why. 

11. Describe instances of children failing to represent or 
to understand representations of space-relations, and explain 
as well as you can the reason. 

12. Describe the perceptive training that takes place while 
a child is trying to reproduce the form and color of a leaf. 

13. Ask your children to tell how many inch cubes a two- 
inch cube will make and how many colored sides each small 
cube will have if the large cube was colored on the outside. Also 
such questions as how many feet high a building is and how 
long it would take to walk up a mountain of a certain height 
or across a certain state, and thus judge of the constructive 
imagination of your pupils in spatial lines. Drawings of what 



COMPETITIVE SOCIALIZATION 215 

has been described may also be used as tests of constructive 
activity in connection with reading. Test the effects of using 
a few objects or diagrams in a lesson in history or geography, 
and of giving a similar lesson by means of words only. 

14. Describe instances of the inability of children to re- 
produce general or abstract truths in their own words, and 
of their ability to reproduce stories of concrete experiences. 

15. Make a study of the definitions of children at differ- 
ent ages. 

16. Describe modes of testing truth which you have known 
children to use. 

17. Describe individual children who have little control 
over their movements and attention, and of those who have 
a good deal. How much change in the first type have you 
known to be produced by training ? What means were most 
effective ? 

18. Discuss the relative prominence that should be given 
to plays, games and sports, and to work ; also to imitation 
and to authority in will-training during this period. 

19. Is it well to give children at eleven or twelve an allow- 
ance not only for their personal pleasures and gifts to others, 
but for buying some articles of clothing ? Why ? 

20. Discuss the value of pets to care for, in the develop- 
ment of children during this period, giving reminiscences or 
observations. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 

Characteristics and Changes. The changes during 
this period, which extends from twelve to eighteen, are 
so great and so numerous that the distinction between 
it and the preceding period has been generally recog- 
nized. The physical changes which come first are nu- 
merous and extensive, followed by changes in kind 
and degree of feeling ; then come profound intellectual 
changes, which usually extend over the next period. 

The change in the size of the body as a whole, and 
in the relative proportion of each part and organ to 
every other part, is so complete that the organic sensa- 
tions which supply the conscious background for the 
self-life are greatly modified. New sensations also ap- 
pear with the changes in all the organs and the devel- 
opment of sex-life, hence the youth must again become 
acquainted with his own organism. His conscious life is 
so changed that his condition is in some respects sim- 
ilar to that experienced at the beginning of the third 
stage, when a conscious self has just been developed 
and is to be individualized. The person is now to be- 
come not simply an adult individual, but a man or 
woman, with all the sex characteristics and social atti- 
tudes implied in the term. 

If the physiological changes are rapid, especially if 
there are at the same time considerable changes in the 
way in which the child is treated by parents and others, 
old habits of acting, feeling and thinking may be en- 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 217 

tirely broken up, and only after a period of variable 
and more or less erratic behavior, is the self reorgan- 
ized and a new individuality established. In other 
cases, where the physiological changes are more gradual 
and the child is treated much as he has been, yet with" 
a little more freedom given him, the new impulses and 
feelings may be incorporated into the old life without 
any very marked break or a period of great vari- 
ability. 

When the child has been and still is kept under very 
strict authoritative control, he may continue outwardly 
much the same, but at the same time be developing 
secretly a new life not at all in harmony with the out- 
ward one ; or if he is a strong personality, he may sub- 
mit for a time and then suddenly rebel against author- 
ity. In such cases, it is not unusual for him to go 
directly contrary to all of his previous teaching. 

This period, like the third, is a critical one and es- 
pecially difficult to deal with. Those in authority often 
find the relations between themselves and the child 
completely changed, so that they no longer understand 
each other and are perhaps at cross purposes or ar- 
rayed in actual antagonism. In other more fortunate 
cases the bond between parents and child may become 
closer, because the child is now better able to under- 
stand and appreciate the thoughts and feelings of adults 
than ever before. Before this time the child has, unless 
acquired through training, little feeling of responsibility ; 
his chief business has been to compete and get all he 
could for himself. Now, however, partly as the result 
of the development of the racial, parental or sex in- 
stinct, which changes his attitude not only toward the 
other sex but toward every one, and partly as the result 



218 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

of his cooperative activities, especially in games where 
individuals of one group cooperate in competing, he be- 
gins to feel the necessity of sacrifice and loyalty to the 
group and has more tendency to giving and helping 
instead of merely receiving and achieving. He realizes 
as never before something of the obligation to give to 
others what he desires them to give to him, and some- 
times shows a strong tendency toward self-sacrifice even 
when it is not necessary. 

As authoritative control is lessened and he notices 
more the results of his conduct, he realizes to a greater 
extent his own personal responsibility to others and to 
society. He looks further out into the world and fur- 
ther into the future and begins to prepare himself for 
the place he wishes to occupy in the broader field of 
life. His imitations are no longer simply of what is 
new, striking and interesting, but of what appeals to 
him as in some way admirable. In other words, he be- 
gins to form ideals of personality and conduct instead 
of accepting more or less passively those that are pre- 
sented to him. These ideals may change frequently, 
and he himself may try many modes of action to learn 
how such actions feel, much as does the child in the in- 
dividualizing stage from three to six ; yet he gradually 
selects and perfects his ideals of life and sooner or later 
begins to mould his life in accordance with them. It 
not unfrequently happens that after the more altruistic 
emotions have been aroused the youth may still be very 
thoughtless of others' feelings and perhaps very lax in 
controlling his actions in accordance with his better 
impulses. 

Although the pubertal period is marked by the 
greatest changes of all, it is exceedingly difficult to 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 219 

make general statements as to the exact nature and 
order of development in each line. There is a bewilder- 
ing mingling of old instinctive tendencies, physiological 
processes and habits, with new impulses, ideals and 
habits. Some hereditary characteristics are being out- 
grown, while others not previously shown are becoming 
prominent ; hence seemingly fundamental individual 
characteristics may be much increased or decreased or 
replaced by others. 

Every statistical study of physical and mental char- 
acteristics that has been made shows marked variation 
in the curves of change at or soon after the beginning 
of this period. The tests made by different investigators 
do not, however, show marked changes at exactly the 
same time, even when the same characteristics are sup- 
posed to have been tested. 

Even such an easily determined characteristic as 
change in height at this period cannot be determined 
accurately by statistical methods based on the averages 
of groups of different ages. According to the averages 
in the tables of growth in height, the acceleration ex- 
tends over a period of three to five years ; but there is 
good reason to believe that the period is almost univer- 
sally shorter in individuals, lasting only from one to 
three years. The reason for the difference is to be found 
in the fact that the figures based on the measurement of 
many children include at each age some individuals 
that have not begun to grow rapidly and some that have 
finished their rapid growth, as well as those who are at 
the maximum of accelerated growth ; hence the aver- 
age increase each year is less than the actual growth of 
individuals who are in the midst of the period of rapid 
growth, and the acceleration appears to last longer than 



220 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

it actually does in individuals. What is true of growth 
in height is true of every other characteristic. 

It follows, therefore, that in lines where measure- 
ments can be made with less exactness and in which 
variability is greater as to time of appearance (which 
is true of all mental characteristics), it is impossible, 
by computing averages, to reach reliable generalizations 
as to the exact time at which changes wiU take place 
in individuals. Individual studies only can give a true 
picture of individual development. A large number of 
such individual studies could be treated statistically 
and generalizations of considerable value made ; but 
even then the diversity of individual development would 
doubtless make extensive and exact generalizations 
difficult. Some generalizations may, however, even now 
be made with considerable assurance, only it must not 
be expected that they will apply to all individuals or 
that the exact time at which changes take place can be 
given. 

Dr. G. Stanley Hall indicates the following contrast- 
ing characteristics that may be manifested by different 
persons, or sometimes by the same persons at different 
times : first, excessive activity in contrast with unusual 
alertness ; second, great joyf ulness with excessive laugh- 
ter, in contrast with tears and melancholy ; third, ex- 
cessive egotism in contrast with excessive humbleness ; 
fourth, strong altruistic impulses in contrast with ex- 
treme selfishness; fifth, unusual goodness with unusual 
badness of conduct; sixth, extreme boldness in contrast 
with painful shyness ; seventh, indifference or cruelty 
in contrast with excessive sympathy ; eighth, interest 
in everything in contrast with the condition in which 
nothing arouses interest ; ninth, desire to know in con- 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 221 

trast with desire to do ; tenth, original radical views in 
contrast with most slavish acceptance of what adults 
and books say, and minute conformity to all customs 
•and conventions. 

Illustrations. The following reminiscences of changes 
and experiences at adolescence are quoted from Prof. 
E. (jr. Lancaster (" Psychology and Pedagogy of Ado- 
lescence," Ped. Sem. vol. v, pp. 61-128). 

M. 18 : "My chin has become more regular, cheek- 
bones more prominent, brow not as smooth, chest in- 
creased, hair darker, nose sharp and prominent. As a 
boy I looked like my father, but now more and more 
like my mother." 

F. 18 : " Chin longer, nose does not turn up as much, 
cheek-bones more prominent, hair darker, look more 
like father." 

F. 19 : "Ancestral traits have appeared. In my man- 
ner when angry, in keeping family relics and tracing 
pedigree, I am like father." 

F. 21 : "Everything in nature took on a new aspect 
of beauty at this time and appealed deeply to the senses 
of sight and smeU." 

F. 17 : " Senses are keener. I see around me many 
things that I never did before. I take in and appreciate 
much more. Those sensations cause much more 
thought." 

M. 21 : " From a confident singer and speaker as a 
child I became very diffident and have hardly yet 
gained much power of expression." 

M. 17 : "Yery difficult to think and speak at the 
same time ; came to feel 'dumb-bound.' " 

F. 28 : " From twelve to eighteen I was fluent and 



222 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

never failed for a word. Criticism at eighteen for use 
of language made me conscious and stumbling." 

M. 18 : "About twelve had feelings too deep for me 
to express." 

F. 18 : "I love my home but have times when I 
want to go away and try for myself, save for my par- 
ents more. Often tired of school." 

F. 16 : "I did not love my father or mother until 
about thirteen. I thought them nice. I feel more deeply 
all reproof and I have had times when I wanted to 
leave school." 

F. 18 : " Home more attractive. Parents' influence 
stronger but they do not command at all." 

F. 17 : "I grow very restless at home. When away 
from home I feel as if I could be perfectly happy at 
home." 

F. 19 : "At fourteen wanted to leave school and did 
so. Was out for six months and then went back with 
new zest." 

F. 20 : "At fourteen had great desire to break all 
rules of school simply because they were rules." 

M. 20 : " I have had many ideals, first statesmanship, 
then the ministry and now teaching." 

M. 18 : "A few years ago I wanted to be a pugilist 
and all-round sport. Now I want to be a lawyer or 
orator." 

M. 20 : " Have bad spells of languor. Brain seems 
totally inactive. Again something pushes me on and I 
know not how to stop." 

F. 19 : "At fourteen there were times when I had 
great loathing for any activity. Again felt like doing 
heavy work and crowding it. J do not notice those spells 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 223 

M. 15 : "I often have spells of despondency. Can 
understand a person's committing suicide. I have times 
of great joy and am pleased with everything." 

F. 20 : " From fourteen to nineteen I had often 
spells of despondency. I felt very sinful and lowly. 
Wanted sympathy. This was just after a joyful mood." 

F. 19 : "At thirteen had a sudden change of dress. 
Never cared how I looked before." 

F. 17 : "I have felt more desire to do right because it 
is right. Feel indignant toward wrong and wrongdoers." 

F. 20 : " Have often put myself on penance for 
wrong actions. I wore things I did not like or went 
without a favorite dish." 

M. 25 : " At fifteen had great desire to do just right 
and to help others. My greatest temptation was to give 
up everything, even my life, but the thought of my mo- 
ther kept me from doing it." 

M. 27 : " Had after fourteen a desire to hit some one 
or do some violent act." 

M. 21 : " Criminal thoughts and impulses were more 
than flitting at times and required all the self-control 
possible to deal with them. Even that could not elimi- 
nate the thoughts." 

F. 18 : "At fifteen a new feeling toward God. He 
became a dear father. I felt unworthy of his love. Felt 
earnest to work for the welfare of others." 

F. 16 : " Religion was a form, now it has become 
full of meaning." 

F. 17 : " Since fourteen a new religious interest. 
Have longed to go on a mission since sixteen." 

M. 21 : " Religious feehng deeper than before twelve. 
Strong inclination to pray and to do missionary service 
to the poor. Need new grounds of faith." 



224 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

F. 19 : " From eight to twelve I liked pictures of 
birds, boys and girls. Now I like pictures in which 
there is sentiment. I feel music very deeply. It often 
makes me cry." 

F. 18 : "At thirteen craved religious literature and 
history, then novels and plays. Now literature pertain- 
ing to Grod and nature appeals to me most." 

F. 17 : " First liked fairy tales, then novels, then 
books of travel. Wanted to write stories, tried and 
failed." 

M. 22 : "At fourteen I had a retreat in the barn 
where I collected and arranged stones, shells, wood, etc. 
Would spend hours there." 

M. 22 : "I naturally liked science but a series of 
teachers whom I disliked caused me to avoid this." 

M. 26 : " From fourteen to sixteen curiosity regard- 
ing my physical nature became very intense. I had a 
deep sense of mystery. This was increased when I 
learned that our senses do not report correctly the outer 
world." 

SENSORY AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT. 

Although we cannot state the character of changes in 
sensations during this period, we can be very sure that 
there usually are great changes. Changes in absolute 
and relative size of the body and its various organs, and 
changes in the rate and intensity of the physiological 
processes of respiration, circulation and nutrition, to- 
gether with the development of almost wholly new or- 
gans, must produce profound changes in the organic 
sensations that form the background of consciousness. 
Besides these changek there are considerable modifica- 
tions in all the special sensations, which sometimes be- 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 225 

come much more intense, while in other cases they seem 
for a time to be markedly dull. 

The most common change is probably in the relation 
of sensation to feelings. Sensations of touch, sound, 
color and odor often have a new emotional and senti- 
mental significance. They not only serve the biological 
and practical needs, but they often appeal as never be- 
fore to aesthetic and other sentiments. Intellectually, 
perception is much the same as in the preceding period, 
but the feelings associated with objects of perception 
and the attitudes of attraction or repulsion toward them 
are very much more marked. 

The motor-changes, though variable, are subject to 
more exact measurements. There is during this period 
a remarkable increase in strength and a great gain in 
rapidity and accuracy of movement in many lines, but 
there is also, in a large number of cases, a period of im- 
perfect coordination of movement in which the individ- 
ual is decidedly clumsy. In the presence of others this 
clumsiness may take the form of painful awkwardness, 
in which the individual does not know what to do with 
his hands and feet and is unable to manage them as he 
wishes. The period of clumsiness may be due in part to 
lack of correlation in growth of bones, muscles and 
tendons, loose-jointedness resulting from the relatively 
too rapid growth of the latter. It is also probably due 
to imperfect connection between the various sense- and 
motor-centers of the brain. The changes in the vocal 
cords also frequently cause the youth a good deal of 
trouble and embarrassment in controlling his voice. 

Writing habits that were apparently pretty well 
established are frequently changed at this time and 
usually for the worse. This may be caused in part by 



226 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

the same changes that produce general clumsiness, 
though the necessity of writing more rapidly, which is 
usually felt at this time, is a factor. There is probably 
also a change in the coordinations of the muscles and 
centers concerned, so that those that formerly took a 
leading part are subordinated to others. The fingers 
have perhaps been most used, and in changing to fore- 
arm or combined movements, there is a period of poor 
writing, which, if care is not taken to improve, may 
become established as a habit. 

There is good reason to believe that a great variety 
of motor activity during this period is highly desirable, 
in order that all of the muscles of the body and the 
centers controlling them may be effectually connected 
so that they can be used in any desired combination, 
now with one group and now with another, so that in 
every case every other part of the body shall adapt it- 
self to the movement, and assist instead of hindering 
it. It is in accord with this need that the youth is likely 
to be much interested in sports and games involving a 
variety of movements, and opposed to doing one thing 
for a long time. 

FEELINGS 

There is never a time when the feelings are so in- 
tense and varied as during the pubertal period. Many 
emotions and sentiments, if not wholly new, take on a 
new character. This is especially true of social, aesthetic, 
moral, religious and intellectual feelings. In the preced- 
ing period there has been much chumming and some 
cooperative competition, but the feeling of loyalty to a 
friend, or to a group to which one belongs, is, up to 
this time, a matter of cultivation rather than of natural 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 227 

growth. Now, however, it develops naturally, often in 
a very marked degree. Social sensitiveness generally is 
greatly increased, so that the pain of embarrassment 
and shame and the enjoyment of success and commend- 
ation are multiplied many-fold. The youth, in choosing 
companions, thinks more of mental qualities and cares 
more for what people think and less of what they do, 
than during the latter part of the preceding period. 

The social consciousness with reference to the other 
sex is now greatly changed. Previous to this, chumming 
between boys and girls is or would be rather common, 
if it were not restrained by fear or ridicule ; and the 
feeling toward a chum of the opposite sex is usually 
much the same as toward those of the same sex. At 
first the feeling is often manifested freely, but ridicule 
diminishes its manifestations. Sometimes there is a pe- 
riod of heightened interest in those of the opposite sex 
before puberty that, especially in the case of boys, is 
carefully concealed. At about the beginning of the pu- 
bertal period, there is often, however, a transition stage, 
in which the sexes seem to avoid each other and are, to 
a considerable extent, antagonistic. In the course of a 
year or two there is again mutual attraction, while at 
the same time there is increased aesthetic appreciation 
and a greater regard for social conventions. Hence at 
this time an excessive interest in dress and manners 
often develops, especially in the presence of the oppo- 
site sex. All forms of showing off are also greatly in- 
creased, except when inhibited by shyness. It is evident, 
therefore, that there is a very close relation between the 
development of sex-attraction, sesthetic appreciation and 
a broader social development. 

In the preceding period, size and power have been 



228 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

most admired, but now this admiration must compete 
with that felt for beauty and goodness and, in the next 
period, for truth. It is during this period that boys and 
girls become distinctly moral instead of being largely 
unmoral. Previous to this they may have had good habits 
and may have strongly desired to act in ways others re- 
garded as good, but there was little control of action 
by the child's own ideals of goodness. Now there is 
often developed a deeper feeling of what is right and of 
responsibility for doing it. There is real selfishness and 
unselfishness, according as altruistic impulses triumph 
over, or succumb to, individualistic instincts. Previous 
to this there had been little or no impulse to sacrifice 
self for the good of another, but only to get some good 
for self that was valued more than the good that was 
relinquished. 

The development that takes place in connection with 
the sex, social, aesthetic and moral impulses finds its 
culmination in the development of the religious impulses. 
Religion furnishes the highest ideals of power, beauty 
and goodness, and the social impulse to get into proper 
relation, not only with individuals but with groups and 
with all humanity, is readily turned toward the idea of 
getting into proper relation with what is conceived as 
the supreme source of all life and especially of all con- 
sciousness. More conversions occur during the last three 
years of this period than in any other three years of life, 
while about two-thirds of all conversions take place be- 
tween twelve and twenty. 

In the earlier awakening of the religious impulse there 
is frequently an acceptance of whatever religious creed 
is taught, without much questioning as to its truth, much 
as was the case in the third period of development. At 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 229 

that time religious ideas were more a matter of iDtellect, 
while now it is the feelings that are usually most stirred. 
To make its most powerful appeal religion must involve 
mystery ; and in this peculiarly sensitive stage of devel- 
opment, youths and maidens are very susceptible to in- 
fluences that are little understood. In many instances 
there is little or no desire at this time to understand 
religious doctrines, but a desire to believe and feel the 
mysterious forces that are suggested by religious exer- 
cises. The intellectual interest in religion may also be 
aroused at this time, but it is more likely to dominate 
in the next period, when abstract logical and scientific 
thought has become more prominent. 

Illustrations of Feelings. The following illustrations 
of adolescent feeling are from Lancaster (op. cit), and 
from Smith ("Types of Adolescent Affection," Ped. 
Sem. vol. xi, pp. 178-203). 

F. 21: "At thirteen nature became a real, almost 
human thing to me. It seemed to respond to a cry for 
something higher." 

F. 17 : "I have speUs when I feel that I must be 
alone. I think of the past and what I will do in the 
future. I watch objects in nature and think of God. I 
watch the stars appear one by one." 

F. 18 : "I have felt that trees, flowers and birds 
understood me. Have hugged a tree and almost wor- 
shiped the moon. Intense love of color and perfume 
of flowers." 

F. 21 : " After fourteen, when my adolescence began 
I had a change of feeling toward nature. I loved to get 
up early and take long walks alone before breakfast. 
Liked to watch moon and stars. Loved flowers and wore 
a large bunch when I could get them." 



230 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

F. 13 : " Had played with a boy of my own age for 
several years. He was a neighbor and we had good times 
together. When we entered the grammar school we nat- 
urally walked to and from school together and our names 
were soon coupled. I soon grew shy and self-conscious 
and began to think myself in love with him. We were 
both silly for a time. It ended in the spoiling of a pleas- 
ant, wholesome friendship." 

r. 15 : " Attached to a boy of the same age. Talked 
of him continually ; lessons suffered. When she could 
talk to him would hardly speak to any one else. Much 
alike in taste, etc. Does not like to hear about it now.'* 

(Very few love affairs before sixteen end in marriage 
and the girl at least is usually ashamed of her feelings 
and actions afterwards.) 

r. 14 : " Became much attached to her new tutor who 
was twenty. He was poor but educated and refined; 
never lost patience with her. She became very anxious 
to please him and after a time allowed him to select all 
her books. She was obliged to obey him, while she usu- 
ally had all her own way with the boys she knew. Think 
it was not foolish but a very helpful attachment, and 
that she acquired habits of reading and industry and 
learned to overcome her passions." 

M. 14 — M. 17 ; " Both fine boys. The affection be- 
tween them almost lover-like and frankly expressed, 
although there never was any excessive exhibition of it. 
The younger was intellectually superior, full of fun and 
mischief. The older, slower but of solid worth, was in 
a way a balance-wheel for the younger. Both are men 
now and the friendship continues." 

F. 13 — F. 14: "Are devoted to each other: share 
everything ; always want to be dressed as much alike 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 231 

as possible. When the family went to the seashore, one 
begged to be allowed to stay at home and visit B. in- 
stead." 

M. 19 — F. 30 : " She was his ideal of beautiful woman- 
hood. She gave him her picture and he afterwards said 
of it that he did not dare even to think of anything that 
he should n't, with that picture in the room. The influence 
was one of the best in his life." 

F. 33 : "At fourteen I had my first case of love, but 
it was with a girl. It was insane, intense love, had the 
same quality and sensations as my first love for a man 
at eighteen. In neither case was the object idealized. 
I was perfectly aware of their faults, nevertheless my 
whole being was lost, immersed in their existence. The 
first lasted two years, the second seven years. No love 
has since ever been so intense, but now these persons, 
though living, are no more to me than the veriest stran- 
ger. 

F. 17 : " Selfish by nature but for the last year or two, 
by thinking a moment, I become generous." 

F. 17 : "I am more self-assertive. I have streaks of 
being unselfish and the opposite." 

Self-consciousness. The pubertal period is preemi- 
nently the period when self-consciousness develops. It 
may be prominent at other times, but almost surely 
becomes so during this period, and may then become a 
fixed characteristic of the individual. The fact that the 
bodily self is rapidly changing and thus modifjdng the 
background of consciousness as well as calling attention 
to various parts of the body, tends to draw attention to 
self. The instinctive impulses are also changing, so that 
the young person, without intending it, finds himself 
acting and feeling in novel ways ; and this also tends to 



232 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

draw attention to himself. Social sensitiveness is also 
increased at this time, so that what other persons do, 
say or think with reference to one's self produces much 
greater effects. 

There has been a species of self -consciousness before 
this, but usually of a different type ; the self has been 
the center of all things, and all things, including per- 
sons, have been valued in proportion as they could con- 
tribute to the pleasure and exaltation of that self, al- 
though consciousness of self as such was not prominent. 
Now, instead of being concerned chiefly with what he 
may do or get, his consciousness is turned inward toward 
his own mental states, and the youth thinks more of 
what he is and may become. He therefore often finds 
self more interesting than anything else. The very fact 
of having ideals calls attention to characteristics of the 
self that need to be changed, and this also fosters self- 
consciousness and sometimes produces hesitation and 
constraint. 

There is no period at which there is so much danger 
of the individual becoming too self-conscious. The con- 
scious personality that has been developed is variable 
enough to arouse self-consciousness, hence objective in- 
terests are needed to divert attention from self. If one's 
own personality becomes more interesting than the out- 
side world, and more interesting than any other person, 
there is serious danger that through the constant in- 
breeding of thought and lack of fresh vitalizing experi- 
ences of things and persons, the conscious life may get 
out of harmony with the objective world and with the 
social environment. If it were not for the fact that the 
new instinct coming at this time tends to increase inter- 
est in the conscious personality of others, the danger of 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 233 

over-development of self-consciousness would be still 
greater. 

It is not at all unusual for a person of this age to be- 
come completely fascinated witb some other person, some- 
times a cbum, more often an older person, frequently of 
tbe same sex, so tbat the acts, thoughts and feelings of 
the admired individual are of more interest than any- 
thing else in the world. This, though sometimes unfortu- 
nate in its results, is often advantageous, while extreme 
absorption in self has no compensating advantages. 
Sometimes characters in history or literature may be 
the objects of admiration. If a young person is fortunate 
in being attracted toward a strong, well-rounded person- 
ality, the result is good, not only in preventing too much 
contemplation of self, but also in the formation of char- 
acter. 

The development of extreme self -consciousness is most 
dangerous when the mind is dominated bj the sex-feel- 
ings, which are now coming into prominence. This is a 
time therefore when the youth is most benefited by ming- 
ling with others of the same and the opposite sex under 
circumstances in which conventions largely determine 
how one shall conduct one's self. It is distinctly not a 
time for much close association of two individuals of the 
opposite sex when alone. 

The idea that one may not be perfectly normal in some 
respect, especially in a sexual way, may gain lodgment 
and poison the whole conscious life. The danger from 
ideas connected with this phase of development is much 
greater than from any others, partly because the instinct 
with which they are associated is one of the strongest 
and partly because of the secrecy maintained with ref- 
erence to it. The individual usually has little opportu- 



234 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

nity, either from his own observations or from conversa- 
tion with others, to correct erroneous ideas that he may- 
have formed. Even if there is no thought of one's self 
as being abnormal, it is unfortunate for the mind to be 
occupied definitely with thoughts directly connected 
with the instinct coming into prominence. It is much 
better if the thoughts are occupied with other things 
and simply made more vigorous because of the presence 
of the sex-impulse and the heightened feeling of per- 
sonality that it gives. 

For these reasons it is especially important that per- 
sons during this period should not be left to themselves 
too much with nothing to do. There should be a good 
deal of freedom, in order that the individuality may be 
developed ; but entire leaving alone is not so desirable 
as at the earlier time of developing conscious individu- 
ality during the period from three to six. In order that 
the person shall not be too much occupied at this time 
with thoughts of self, he should be surrounded by plenty 
of objective things of interest and should be occupied a 
considerable portion of the time with sports, games, 
work and study ; and he should ^lave a good deal of asso- 
ciation with other persons of his own age, of both sexes. 
Many persons at this time have a desire for solitary re- 
flection, and the thoughts and dreams at such times may 
be of the greatest value in developing a strong individual 
personality ; but as already indicated, there are grave 
dangers connected with too much solitary dreaming. 

It is quite certain that there wiU, at this time, be some 
interest in the opposite sex, unless there is a very unusual 
degree of interest and complete preoccupation with ob- 
jective activities and studies. If the young person is in 
constant contact with those of the opposite sex, his im- 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 235 

agination is likely to be concerned less with thouglits of 
them, than if he has little or no contact. There is far 
less chance for the development of abnormal ideas when 
in the actual presence of others of the opposite sex, and 
in daily association with them in company with one's own 
sex, than where they are never seen and the images and 
ideas that are formed have no normal and natural cor- 
rective. 

Even when sex-feelings do not occupy the mind and 
no abnormal ideas are developed as the result of in- 
creased seK-consciousness at this time, the habit of 
introspection and minute self-observation thus estab- 
lished, may detract from the joy of life and sometimes 
prevent one from doing his most effective work in the 
world. Even conscientiousness may be over-developed 
and produce hesitation and waste of energy. 

Although it is not desirable during this period that 
one's life should be directed in all things by rule, yet 
some things should be pretty definitely fixed as regards 
the daily program and as to the kind of behavior that 
shall be permitted under various circumstances. He 
should do what he wishes part of the time, but should 
be definitely directed part of the time, and should always 
have something besides himself to occupy his attention. 
Something in which he is interested, that stimulates him 
to achieve, even though not valuable in itself, is abso- 
lutely necessary. All sorts of stunts and fads may thus 
temporarily serve a useful purpose, but deeper interests 
should also be aroused and means for their gratification 
found. 

Imagination and Day-dreaming. Although this pe- 
riod may be described from the intellectual side as a 
period of thought-development, in contrast with the pre- 



236 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

ceding, which was a period of imaginative development, 
yet this is a period in which the imagination is very 
active in picturing future possibilities. Most of the in- 
fluences that tend to make the individual self-conscious 
at this time, also tend to lead him to imaginings of all 
kinds. In the preceding period, the chief activity of the 
imagination was constructive, while in this period it is 
largely creative as it was in the third period. It is now, 
however, less playful and more concerned with the for- 
mation of ideals and plans for life. Whereas in the 
fourth period the person learned to represent the unseen 
world as it is, he now spends much time in day-dreams 
in which the world, especially in relation to himself, is 
represented according as it may be or as he hopes it 
may become. 

In freedom this imaginative activity is somewhat like 
the earlier, imaginative play, but now there is much 
more selection of material and arrangement of the com- 
bined or resulting images, according to one's taste, ideals 
and desires, and with more regard for possibilities. Im- 
agination now concerns itself with aU sorts of interest- 
ing objects and activities, and usually represents these 
in their highest and most desirable form. The young 
person is continually having imaginary experiences and 
doing things similar to those in his real life, but infi- 
nitely more satisfying and successful. Even when the 
every-day life is very commonplace, a life that is far 
from commonplace is often lived in imagination. Books 
that give extreme instances of strength, endurance, 
beauty, wisdom, and remarkable and exciting adven- 
tures of every kind, are much desired as stimuli to the 
imagination, and they also serve as patterns in the for- 
mation of ideals of what one is to become. 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 237 

Sometimes these day-dreams are so far removed from 
real objective life that they have little influence upon 
conduct. The individual may be almost the opposite in 
every particular of what he is in his day-dreams, and 
what should stimulate him to act may serve simply as 
a stimulus to his imagination. It is partly for this reason 
that association and competition with others of his own 
age, and much of objective interest to occupy the mind, 
are of such value. Without such associations and inter- 
ests, and especially without athletic contests, the boy 
may become almost as imaginative and sentimental as 
girls not unfrequently are. 

If the boy's dreams of what may be done by means 
of agility and strength are never fuUy realized, they 
serve their purpose if they lead him to engage in actual 
contests and achieve some successes. The necessary 
bond between ideals and achievements is thus preserved, 
so that ideals continue to be stimuli to action and direc- 
tors of activity. The day-dreams and ideals, when com- 
pared with actual achievements in games and sports, 
and with opinions of others, are kept more sane and 
normal. Day-dreams and ideals regarding physical 
achievements are much more readily normalized than 
are those connected with intellectual and artistic efforts. 
It is not difficult to get one's self properly appraised as 
a runner or a jumper, but it is frequently very difficult 
to get youths to form a more sane judgment of their 
intellectual, artistic or literary abilities. The one, how- 
ever, who has had his ideals of physical achievement 
normalized by objective experiences, is usually easily 
led to form more correct and practical ideas in other 
lines. 

All day-dreams at this period include not simply a 



238 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

representation of something as being done, but also of 
another person or persons as witnessing the achieve- 
ment. The pleasure experienced is not so much in the 
thing itseK, as in the thought of how it will be viewed 
by others or by one particular person. 

In a large proportion of cases, some person of the 
opposite sex, either real or imaginary, is represented as 
having a part in the achievements or as a witness of 
them. Athletics and other objective interests, although 
concerned in these dreams, tend to prevent them from 
becoming abnormal. It is in part the lack of such in- 
terests that often makes the girl's day-dreams more 
sentimental than the boy's. 

The day-dreams and imaginings, although of less in- 
tellectual value than the constructive imaginations of 
the preceding period, are of far more significance in the 
development of individual character. Life means a 
thousand pictured possibilities, and usually there is 
more or less of an impulse to realize some or all of 
those possibilities. In nearly every case some of the 
possibilities become ideals and help direct conduct dur- . 
ing longer or shorter periods, and not unfrequently 
throughout the whole life. 

Little can be done by parent or teacher in a positive 
and specific way toward determining just what the im- 
aginative activity shaU be during this period. Indi- 
rectly, much may be done by furnishing literature that 
stimulates the imagination and provides abundant op- 
portunity for the choice of ideals, and on the other 
hand by providing for a large amount of objective ac- 
tivity in competition, and especially in cooperation, with 
others. 

Illustrations of Day-dreaming. The following ex- 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 239 

amples of reverie or day-dreaming are chosen from 
Lancaster (Ped. Sem. vol. v, pp. 61-128), and from 
Partridge (Ped. Sem. vol. v, pp. 444-474). 

F. 18 : " As a child I dreamed much of the future. 
Wanted to be a musician, elocutionist, artist, milliner, 
bookkeeper, dressmaker and a school-teacher. Have 
often desired to be as beautiful in character as Christ 
himself." 

M. 21 : "I longed for and dreamed of unheard-of 
things." 

F. 19 : "I have had deep reverie and longing. I often 
think how happy I should be if I could excel in some 
one thing I like. I have dreamed of being able and 
longed to sing like Patti, to play like the old masters, 
to write like Shakespeare. I have dreamed of going 
through college and becoming very learned, of becoming 
a missionary, of being rich and doing much to relieve 
the poor, of being good. I have longed to possess all 
virtue, absolute truthfulness and unselfishness." 

F. 17 : " Sometimes I go over my past and make my 
experiences much more satisfactory than they were when 
they originally occurred. Again I imagine myself famous 
as a singer, when in reality I cannot sing at all. Then 
again I think of myseK as winning many degrees and 
as admired for my scholarship ; as a matter of fact I am 
not especially brilliant in any line. Some of the scenes 
I linger over a long time, especially those in which I 
figure as a shining light." 

F. 17: "I am shy with strangers, but afterwards 
imagine myself as entertaining, talking and smiling and 
being the center of attraction." 

F. 17: "I love to day-dream, thinking of what I shall 
do with my money when I become rich. I dream of all 



240 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

the luxuries that money wiU buy, how I shall help the 
poor, etc. I think of myself as in a beautiful cottage by 
the sea, in a luxuriously furnished home, with a large 
library and everything magnificent." 

Development of Thought. In the previous period 
the child acquires power to think in a representative way. 
His thinking now becomes less concrete, less a mere mat- 
ter of representation, and more concerned with relations 
and general truths. It is a period in which a great number 
of truths regarding things and persons, that have been 
heard and read, are more completely abstracted and gen- 
eralized and new ones learned. It is preeminently the time 
in which the youth acquires for himself the practical, 
and, to some extent, the scientific truths that have been 
discovered by the race. In the previous period, a know- 
ledge of things and persons outside of the immediate 
environment was satisfactory when the objects and pro- 
cesses could be clearly represented. Now there is more 
desire to know not only the what, but the how and 
why, regarding all phenomena, both present and re- 
mote. 

The interest in the how and why is not a mere play- 
ful interest as in the third period, nor is it chiefly an 
abstract interest as in the sixth, but it is often primarily 
a practical interest. The individual begins to look upon 
himself as a doer, and is interested to know how the 
race does things and why they must be done in one way 
rather than in another. He is not at first ready for ab- 
stract science, but he is interested in the rules, prin- 
ciples and general truths that are recognized in the 
various processes carried on by the persons that he 
knows and hears of, and in the materials and devices 
used in order to obtain the best results. 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 241 

In the third stage of development, the child is satis- 
fied with dramatic representations of the various pro- 
cesses that interest him. In the next stage, things must 
be so constructed that they can be manipulated in the 
same way as are the real objects and machines. Toward 
the latter part of the fourth period, he begins to de- 
mand that things shall actually be useful. In the fifth 
period this demand becomes stronger. The individual 
is already beginning to consider what his own life-work 
shall be and he is interested in finding out about all 
sorts of machines, occupations and methods. This is 
preeminently, therefore, a time for becoming acquainted 
with the principles of science as utilized in the arts and 
industries. The natural introduction to pure science is 
through its application rather than in the reverse direc- 
tion. It is a period in which many concepts are acquired, 
standards of truth and probability formed, and general 
truths learned. 

Truths expressed in other than concrete form are now 
better understood, and it is possible to acquire mean- 
ings of new words by means of definitions, to a much 
greater extent than formerly ; yet the general must be 
related to the concrete if it is to have much significance 
to the child. In the previous period the power to re- 
produce stories and descriptions is gained, while in this 
period there is more ability to understand meanings and 
express them in other words. There is much more of a 
tendency to compare facts that have been gained from 
various sources and to foUow out in thought possibili- 
ties regarding men and things. 

Such activities as these rapidly prepare the way for 
abstract thinking and reasoning. In some individuals 
in this period, and in more in the next period, there is 



242 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

a marked tendency to carry these processes of generaliza- 
tion and abstraction to an extreme, in a similar way to 
that shown in the early stage of individualization from 
three to six. The concrete and representable loses its 
interest, and the young person delights in wide gen- 
eralizations and abstract utterances. Abstract mathe- 
matics and generalizations in history, science and litera- 
ture frequently acquire an intense interest. The ability 
to reason and to argue develops rapidly, and the reason- 
ing is much less concrete and involves more definite 
consciousness of general truths. The tendency to hasty 
inductions and wide generalizations is usually quite 
marked, but deductive reasoning is often carried on with 
a good deal of accuracy. There are thus two principal 
tjrpes of interest, one of which is likely to be developed 
at this time, the practical and the scientific. Artistic 
and literary interests are in some, however, more prom- 
inent than either of the above. 

Memory. In memory of real experiences and of 
symbols there is little difference between this and the 
preceding stage. Questions regarding earliest memories 
indicate that memories of early experiences are less 
readily recalled at this time than at an earlier and a later 
period. This may be partly because the present is more 
interesting than the past and partly because more set- 
tled habits than exist during this period are favorable 
to the ready recall of the past. 

The ability to remember visual symbols is usually 
greater at this time than the ability to remember audi- 
tory symbols. This is doubtless due to the constantly 
increasing familiarity with the visual symbols fostered 
by reading, writing and written arithmetic. 

There is in general considerable increase in the 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 243 

ability to learn lessons of aU kinds, except when ex- 
act word reproductions are required. This is due to 
the increased power of thought and increased know- 
ledge concerning the relation of events, facts and truths. 
Some individuals, however, either because of unwise 
insistence on the part of the teacher or because of 
unusual memory for symbols, may continue to de- 
pend on memory rather than on thought in their study- 
ing. In other cases, where there is a good deal of ability 
to reason or to guess at the truth, there may be too 
little exactness of memory. Rarely do we find one who 
remembers thoughts and words equally weU. 

One of the most important changes in regard to 
memory during this period is in the ability to select 
what shall be remembered and recall it at the proper 
time or with its proper associations. Memory now serves 
practical purposes better than formerly. The youth can 
not only recall what he knows, when requested to do 
so, but he himself thinks of what he has learned 
that will help him in the present case. In other words, 
memory, instead of being an end in itself, becomes 
more the servant of imagination, reasoning and voK- 
tion. 

Temporary memory of practical things, such as mes- 
sages and errands, often decreases because the indivi- 
dual has at this time a broader and more intense sub- 
jective life, and is less affected by outside influences, 
and because he has fewer settled habits than at an 
earlier period, hence what should suggest an errand or 
message to him, fails to do so. Memory of what has 
been learned from books may be very good and of 
practical every-day affairs very poor. 

In school special effort should be made to prevent 



244 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

the youth from becoming a verbal memorizer instead of 
a thinker. Just as in the previous period he should 
learn to translate words into images and to express 
mental pictures in words, so in this period he should 
learn to think meanings and to express thoughts in 
words. Early in this period is a critical time during 
which the teacher should help children to learn how to 
study, instead of permitting and almost forcing them 
to memorize verbally what they do not understand, in 
order to meet school requirements. 

Moral and Volitional Development. The develop- 
ment of new organs and new instincts at this time in- 
volves a complete readjustment of relations between 
the various nerve centers, before the higher centers can 
act harmoniously and effectively in controlling the 
lower centers. Volitional activity, whatever the desire 
be, is for this reason likely to be somewhat unstable 
for some time. There is, however, during this period 
usually a rapid progress toward a definite type of voli- 
tional control, partly because there is probably never a 
period in which so many decisions are taken and resolu- 
tions formed. Old habits of activity are broken up, 
while new habits are unstable and principles of con- 
duct are not well established ; hence, what at an earlier 
period would be a matter of habit, and at a later 
period a matter of reference to some settled principle 
of conduct, must now be governed almost wholly by 
conscious volition or by pure impulse. The necessity of 
making many decisions naturally either develops the 
youth's own will or else makes him more than ever de- 
pendent upon common practice or the advice of some 
one else. 

On the social side, the individual is far more sensi- 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 245 

tive than formerly and the impulse to act for the good 
of others is much stronger. In the period preceding 
this, children form a great many societies in imitation 
of adults, while in this period they form societies ac- 
cording to their own notions, for their own ends, and 
not simply for playful, imitative activity. It is a period 
in which boys form gangs of their own if they are not 
led to join some society that meets their needs. It is 
preeminently the period for developing the virtue of 
loyalty to companions, class, school and country, and to 
any other organization to which one may belong. Some- 
times this virtue is over-developed or prolonged into a 
later period in a way that makes the individual support 
his friend, society or party, regardless of whether they 
are in the right or the wrong. In the preceding period 
the child has learned to value the public opinion of the 
group to which he belongs and has acquired an appre- 
ciation of the rules involved in games. Now he develops 
still further in these directions. In competition he wishes 
his side to succeed, not simply in order that he shall 
thereby become more prominent, but in order that his 
side, class, group or gang shall be exalted whether he 
himself comes into individual prominence or not. 

It is a period in which he appreciates to a much 
greater extent the larger social self, instead of simply 
his own individual seK, In the period from three to six 
there was a similar differentiation between the indi- 
vidual and the social self, with the greater emphasis 
placed on the individual self. With more liberty and a 
wider environment, the youth now comes to know 
and appreciate the general principles of social behavior 
as represented in rules of politeness, styles in clothing, 
and standards of moral conduct. He forms his ideas of 



246 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

these things, not simply from his surroundings, but 
also, as all studies of children's ideals show, from liter- 
ature and history. 

Many opposing models of conduct are presented to 
him and he frequently tests different kinds of behavior 
both in thought and act. Almost any kind of conduct 
is possible during this frequently chaotic period in 
moral and volitional development, without producing 
permanent effects upon character. Inquiries of Swift, 
addressed to successful business and professional men, 
indicate that a very large proportion of those who 
are now our best citizens have during the pubertal 
period been engaged in escapades which in the eyes of 
the law would make them criminals. Even such a tal- 
ented and useful citizen as General Lew Wallace be- 
came, escaped convict life only by chance ; for when he 
was pursued by the owner of a goose that he had stolen, 
he was prepared to shoot if attacked ; but fortunately 
the man did not come up with him. 

Any undesirable conduct, engaged in for only a short 
time during this period, is likely to produce no permanent 
deficiency in character and may sometimes, in strong 
personalities, insure a more intelligent appreciation of 
good and evil with greater power to sympathize with 
and influence others. Any undesirable form of conduct, 
however, that is repeated during a considerable period 
of this time, gives not simply knowledge, but habits 
and tendencies that prevent the development of a well- 
rounded, strong character. Knowledge may often bet- 
ter be gained through the newspaper and through litera- 
ture than through actual experience. The truth to be 
emphasized is not that wrongdoing is harmless at this 
age, but merely that a few experiences of evil are less 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 247 

destructive of moral character than after the character 
has been more fully formed. Although careers of crime 
are usually begun at this time, yet the chances of mak- 
ing good citizens out of youths who have committed 
criminal acts is very good if they are surrounded by 
favorable influences. 

In moral development, as in other forms of learning, 
the natural order of development is first by trial activi- 
ties, then by imitation, finally by the method of under- 
standing, which usually involves the interpretation of 
symbols visual and auditory. In this new life upon 
which the youth is entering, all of these methods are 
likely to be used, either together, or in the order named. 
The results are likely to be very unfortunate, if only 
the latter method is used during this period ; for the 
knowledge gained lacks a sufficient basis in experience, 
and there is always the danger that there shall at a 
later period be either too much dependence on example 
or a reversion to the trial method at a time when devia- 
tions from strict moral standards produce permanent 
blots upon character. It is highly desirable that the 
youth shall be held very strictly to certain modes of 
action and yet at the same time have a good deal of lib- 
erty, and that he shall not be wholly shielded from con- 
tact with evil. Care should be taken, however, that he 
shall have plenty of opportunity for imitation of good 
models as well as of bad, for forming good ideals in con- 
trast with the bad of which he also learns, and that 
he shall not be shielded from all the results of bad con- 
duct. 

The more glaringly bad a person or book, the less 
dangerous are they to a young man, and it is often bet- 
ter for him to see for himself what they are, than for 



248 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

him to be authoritatively kept from them. The more 
subtle dangers 6i outward fairness but of inward rot- 
tenness need to be guarded against more carefully, but 
some experience with these, rightly directed, is of value 
in developing more reliable judgments of what is really 
good and what is really bad. 

This is not only a period in which religious careers 
begin in a large proportion of cases, but one also in 
which a life of criminality is most frequently begun. 
It is the most critical of all periods, so far as the de- 
velopment of future character is concerned, and yet it is 
a period in which it is most dangerous to interfere and 
attempt to produce at once the type of character de- 
sired, without giving any opportunity for the youth to 
know the various possibilities opened to him and the 
results of different types of conduct. 

What is needed at this time, more than anything else 
— except a few strictly enforced rules or some responsi- 
bilities that necessitate the regulation of conduct, with 
freedom as to details — is a confident faith in the youth 
and his ultimate honor and success, by some one whom 
he knows and in whom he has confidence. The belief of 
such a person that a youth is honorable and will ulti- 
mately do the right thing, although he may go wrong 
for a while, is one of the most powerful and steadying 
influences during the adolescent period. Many men 
have become noble and great because of a mother's 
faith in them. 

As the youth forms ideals and learns the general 
principles governing social and moral relations, he is all 
the time gaining practice in deciding in accordance with 
one or another principle of conduct. He thus gradually 
forms a higher system of habits and ideals, and later is 



PUBERTAL OR EARLY ADOLESCENT PERIOD 249 

able to decide a large proportion of concrete questions 
of conduct with little or no conscious effort. When 
these higher habits of judgment are well developed and 
closely connected with the lower habits in practical af- 
fairs, we have a well-developed, harmonious character. 
In some persons this condition is never reached, because 
opposing principles of conduct are alternately followed, 
or because practical conduct is not closely associated 
with the theoretical judgment of what should be done. 

It is during the latter part of this period that will 
begins to attain its greatest authority. If the training 
has been good, the muscular apparatus is completely 
under control and the mental apparatus almost equally 
so. The individual gains power to direct his imaginings, 
his memory and his thinking in any direction that he 
chooses. Changes in all these respects are so rapid that, 
either at the close of this period or at the beginning of 
the next, the youth often feels that all things are pos- 
sible to him, and he may, when there is a stimulating 
ideal, show a vigor and persistence of will not surpassed 
at any other period. The roll of young soldiers and 
martyrs is therefore a long one, and young people are 
usually the first to volunteer and often the last to give 
up when high endeavor is demanded. 

Never does one feel so vividly that he can be any- 
thing or do anything that he desires. This assurance 
should and often does lead to immediate direction of 
effort toward ends that are desired ; but sometimes the 
individual, resting in the assurance that he can succeed 
when he wishes to make the effort, may for a time idly 
enjoy the present. If this condition is prolonged too far, 
permanent inefficiency may result. Some kind of neces- 
sity for action is often needed ; and when it is furnished, 



250 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

achievement may rapidly take the place of imagined 
possibilities, even in the case of those who have seem- 
ingly never before made any serious efforts. 

EXERCISES 

1. Describe marked changes that you remember in your- 
self at adolescence, or that you have observed in others. 

2. Describe any instances of sudden or frequent alterna- 
tion in characteristics or behavior. 

3. What changes in writing in the upper grades have you 
noticed, and to what do you ascribe them ? 

4. Report evidences of increased variety and intensity of 
feelings at this time. 

5. Describe instances of extreme self-consciousness and 
discuss influences that tend to increase or decrease it. 

6. Make a list of the various activities that should be en- 
couraged in adolescence. 

7. Report instances of day-dreaming and discuss the pos- 
sible dangers and advantages of such dreaming. 

8. Describe instances of a love for large words and for 
wide generalization. 

9. Should much exact verbal memorizing be required at 
this time ? Why? Should "the youth be asked to reproduce 
often in his own words ? Why ? Is it a good time for learn- 
ing rules ? 

10. What may be done at this time to develop ideals ? 

11. Should principles of right conduct be explained at this 
time? Why.^ 



CHAPTER IX 

LATER ADOLESCENCE 

General Description. This period, from eighteen to 
twenty-four, may be compared with that from six to 
twelve. At six the infant has become a child with a 
well-defined conscious individuality. The characteristics 
already possessed are simply developed during the next 
six years, without any sudden changes or important 
additions. At eighteen the girl and the boy have become 
the woman and the man, with the sex-characteristics 
already pretty well defined. Each now develops and fixes 
his or her individual habits and ideals. In the earlier 
period the characteristics of the child become better 
defined and in this, those of the adult. The physical 
development after this age is very slight and there is 
no marked change in instinctive tendencies. Hereditary 
tendencies have nearly all shown themselves, and indi- 
vidual characteristics, native and acquired, are now de- 
fined and developed in special lines. The emotions and 
sentiments broaden and deepen, but their essential 
nature is likely to remain much the same. 

The chief change that takes place is in intellectual 
lines, especially in the higher activities of abstract or 
specialized thought. The sensory motor powers and 
the powers of perception, imagination and memory 
change but little in a general way, but are usually dur- 
ing this time developed to a considerable extent in 
special lines. Specialization in all these respects usu- 
ally begins in the preceding period and is now carried 



252 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

out in detail. If there are opportunities, however, for 
mental activity and stimuli to effort, such as are best 
supplied in college and university, very great changes 
in the power of thought may take place during this 
period. Now if ever the individual learns to think ab- 
stractly by means of symbols, while images of things 
play a smaller part in his intellectual activities. This 
is the time for the study of abstract mathematics, pure 
science, philosophy and logic. 

One's general views of life are likely to be pretty 
well developed at this time. When these are in accord 
with past beliefs and habits, there is gradual develop- 
ment, specialization, and strengthening of character. 
There is no sudden or marked change between pu- 
berty and complete maturity. In a considerable pro- 
portion of cases, however, there is more or less com- 
plete and rapid evolution, and sometimes revolution, 
in ideas and beliefs, occasionally accompanied by very 
strong feelings. This is perhaps more often the case 
when old beliefs were carried through the pubertal 
period without being subject at that time to any revisal 
or readjustment to conform to changes in feelings and 
in the general outlook upon the world. 

The most frequent cause of a season of storm and 
stress at this period is a change in religious beliefs 
brought about by scientific and philosophical studies. 
Sometimes the earlier religious beliefs are so closely 
associated with aU the feelings and habits of the indi- 
vidual, that it seems to be impossible to continue to feel 
or act as formerly, if the old beliefs are given up. 

Sometimes there is a complete change in the charac- 
ter at this time. More frequently, however, the funda- 
mental habits remain much the same, but with many 



LATER ADOLESCENCE 253 

specializations, while the feelings are perhaps decreased 
in intensity and modified in various ways without being 
radically changed. If some common groimd is found 
between old and new beliefs and conceptions, harmony 
of thought, feeling and action ensues. In other cases 
no satisfactory adjustment of old and new conceptions 
is found, and one or the other is banished from thought. 
The individual may then develop permanent views 
either conservative or radical. In other cases there 
may be no permanent predominance of one type of 
belief, politics, religion or philosophy, but alternate 
leanings toward more radical or more conservative 
views. 

This is therefore a critical period in the development 
of a unified personality. At no other period do intel- 
lectual conceptions play so prominent a part in the 
development of the individual. The youth's emotions, 
ideals, actions and habits are moulded by his concep- 
tions to a greater extent than ever before. Instincts, 
emotions and habits are no longer most effective in 
determining actions and choices, but ideas. It is the 
beginning of the supremacy of the intellect in directing 
actions, against which, however, there may be occa- 
sional reactions. It is therefore preeminently a time 
for developing and harmonizing political, social, aes- 
thetic, moral, philosophical and religious ideas, in order 
that the future life may be consistent and efficient. It 
is unfortmiate, however, if beliefs and habits are too 
clearly defined and firmly established, so that the indi- 
vidual becomes narrow and non-progressive. While 
holding fast to fundamental principles in belief and 
action, there should remain a large measure of freedom 
to expand, develop and become adapted to changing 



254 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

coDditions, ideals, beliefs and practices that confront 
him as he grows older and society progresses. 

EXERCISES 

1. Can you remember having reconstructed your theo- 
logy, philosophy or general estimate of values between eight- 
een and twenty-four ? Describe the changes as well as you 
can. 

2. What proportion of people do you think change their 
habits and ideals after twenty-five except in the way of 
specializing or developing them ? 

3. Mention some book or person that had great influence 
in forming or fixing your ideas during this period. 



PAET III 

KELATION OF STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT 
TO EDUCATION 



CHAPTER X 

FUNCTION OF EDUCATION 

Development. Much has been said in educational 
writing about development, as if that were the chief 
purpose of all teaching. Not only is it asserted that all 
the powers, physical, mental and moral, are to be de- 
veloped as the result of the whole educational process, 
but certain subjects or exercises are introduced into the 
course because they are supposed to develop perception, 
memory, imagination or reasoning. These discussions 
sometimes seem to imply that unless the teacher at- 
tends to the matter the child will not be able to remem- 
ber, imagine, etc. Those, however, who have observed 
children who have not been in school, need no proof to 
convince them that, without any formal teaching what- 
ever, they are able to perceive, reason, etc., with great 
success, regarding all things that concern them. We 
are thus led to question whether it is the teacher's chief 
business to develop the child's mind. Paul may plant 
and Apollos may water, but it is God that giveth the 
increase. The educator may plan and the teacher may 
train, but the child develops because it is his God-given 
nature to do so. 

The truth of the matter may be suggested by ana- 
logy. A gardener does a great deal of work in caring 
for his plants but he does not feel directly responsible 
for their development. The processes by which the nu- 
triment is taken from the ground, carried up into 
branches and leaves and shaped into the forms of bios- 



258 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

soms and fruit, are far more complicated than are being 
carried on in any chemical laboratory. The gardener 
does not lie awake nights worrying lest the sap shall 
not rise or the nutrient materials shall be taken to the 
wrong place or fail to be shaped as they should be in 
each species of plant. He has no fear lest apples shall 
form on the tomato-vines or squashes on the grape- 
vines. Nor is he desirous that the ear of corn should 
form before the tassel has appeared. He is firmly con- 
vinced that if he gives a plant a fair chance it will de- 
velop properly without any superintendence of the in- 
ternal processes by himself. It would be well if the 
educator had something of the same faith regarding 
the child. If he is given a fair chance he will develop 
physically, mentally and morally, and the teacher should 
be careful lest he interfere with inner processes that 
are far more complicated than those involved in the 
development of plants. 

Knowledge and Skill. Although, theoretically, teach- 
ers have been supposed to be engaged in the process 
of developing the minds of their pupils, they have as a 
matter of fact really been engaged in trying to impart 
to them knowledge and skill. While declaring that 
physical, mental and moral development is the function 
of education, educators have planned courses of study 
and methods of teaching, and have tested results, as if 
the chief function of education were to give knowledge. 
The importance of moral training is much emphasized 
by some educators, but the church and the home are es- 
pecially charged with that, while the school is almost uni- 
versally held responsible chiefly for intellectual training. 

It is believed by each generation that if the children 
who form the coming generation are given certain 



FUNCTION OF EDUCATION 259 

knowledge and skill, they will be able to make a living 
and also be able to live bappy lives to a far greater 
extent than if they are not given such instruction and 
training; hence courses of study are prescribed for 
children and youth. 

The ideas of what knowledge and skill are of most 
value are determined in part by what has proved valu- 
able to the preceding generation, and by consideration 
of what is likely to be of most value under the condi- 
tions that will confront the next generation. Theoretic- 
ally the choice of what shall go into the course of study 
should be determined wholly in this way, but in actual 
practice the subjects chosen are to a considerable ex- 
tent determined by tradition. 

The sciences of psychology and pedagogy can give 
little or no assistance to society in choosing what shall 
be taught. They may throw some light on the results 
of teaching certain things, and may indicate how the 
facts to be presented may best be arranged and the 
methods that will result in the most rapid and effective 
acquisition of knowledge and skill. They cannot tell 
society what educational results it desires. They can, 
however, tell it how to get what it desires most easily 
and permanently. 

Psychology may suggest some limitation of the 
amount that shall be taught in a certain line by point- 
ing out the fact that extreme acquisitions along that 
line may result in physical disease or lack of mental 
equilibrium or in a certain type of mind and character 
that may or may not be desirable ; but it can be of no 
assistance whatever in choosing wTiat is desirable. It 
can only tell what will be the result of giving a certain 
kind of knowledge at a certain time and rate, and then 



260 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

society can decide whether the special value of what is 
being given more than compensates for any undesirable 
or weakening effects. In the industries it seems to be 
economical to employ children in factories ; but when 
physiologists, psychologists and sociologists point out 
the fact that such early specialization injures the child 
and greatly limits his usefulness as a man, it is recog- 
nized that society should not permit child-labor. In a 
similar way it may recognize that there are limitations 
as to the degree of knowledge and skill in any line that 
it is best to ask teachers to give to children. The 
teacher who is following a required course of study has 
only a limited choice as to what she shall teach her 
children. It is her business to teach what is required, 
and do the best she can in adapting it to the needs of 
the children in her charge. 

Positive and Negative Aims in Educationi- Society 
desires not only that children shall learn certain useful 
things but that they shall become men and women of 
a certain type of personality. (Jn selecting educative 
material, therefore, regard is had not only to the value 
of what is learned for general and special uses but also 
to the effect it may have upon emotions, intellect and 
character J Although the child, surrounded as he is by 
things and people, is sure to develop, and the educator 
is not directly responsible for the working of these 
inner processes any more than the gardener is respon- 
sible for the flow of the sap, yet he must recognize that 
all teaching and training that a child receives modify 
his development so that he has a different body, mind 
and character from what he would have if no special 
training were given him. The farmer can modify the 
development of his grapes or corn by the way in which 



FUNCTION OF EDUCATION 261 

he trains, trims, fertilizes and cultivates them, but he 
has less control over the more fundamental conditions 
of light, heat and moisture upon which development 
depends. In a similar way the teacher may modify the 
child by special training, although the inner processes of 
development go on under the fundamental conditions of 
physical and social environment that exist for every hu- 
man being who is not a hermitLSchool and teaching 
\modify in a greater or less degree these conditions of 
development, and control action so as to modify devel- 
opment. By thus modifying the conditions and provid- 
ing stimuli for development, the child may be made to 
conform to a greater or less extent to the ideals of so- 
ciety as to what men and women should be. J 

This means that there can be no intelligent modifi- 
cation of development without an ideal as to what is 
desired. The gardener will pursue a different course 
according as he wishes a grapevine to serve as shade or 
as a bearer of fruit, and the stock-raiser according as 
he wants cattle to produce milk or to serve as beef. In 
a similar way, society may desire workers, savants or 
artists, and choose the training to be given accordingly. 
But the gardener and stock-raiser must consider not 
only the particular results they desire, but also the gen- 
eral life of the plant or animal, lest they injure its 
vitality by over-development of the special characteris- 
tics desired. In a similar way the educator must consider 
not only the knowledge and skiU and general type of 
conduct desired, but must take care that in giving them 
he does not seriously interfere with the natural pro- 
cesses of development, and thus check, distort and 
weaken instead of bringing out and adding to the nat- 
ural strength and power of the individual. 



262 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

It may be that we shall some time know how to train 
in such a way as to produce greater general power than 
would develop if we merely made conditions favorable 
and attempted to give no special training ; but at the 
present time, with the work organized as it is, we are 
quite as likely to weaken the individual as a whole by 
any special training that we give him. For the present, 
with our courses 9f study planned as they are, the aim 
of the teacher must be chiefly positive as to what know- 
ledge, skiU, habits and ideals we shall give children, 
that they may be useful and happy in our present stage 
of civilization, and negative as regards development, — 
the aim being chiefly to interfere with the natural pro- 
cesses to as slight an extent as possible. In other words, 
our problem is to impart knowledge and skill such as 
society requires, without injuring the child any more 
than we can help. 

In the physical training this is recognized to a con- 
siderable extent already. The sprinter is given the spe- 
cial training that will enable him to win the race, and 
the hammer-thrower, the boatman, and the football- 
player each receive a particular sort of training ; yet it 
is recognized that there must be no over-training in any 
of these lines, lest the body as a whole be weakened 
and the athlete fail even in his specialty. It is now gen- 
erally recognized that, if a child is left free to do as he 
pleases, where there is plenty of opportunity for plays 
and sports of all kinds and some companionship to 
stimulate him, his physical development will be good. 
Few if any physical trainers would undertake to direct 
all the exercise of a child under sixteen in such a way 
as to make him generally stronger and more efficient 
physically than he would be if he were left free to ex- 



FUNCTION OF EDUCATION 263 

ercise as he wished, under favorable conditions. It is 
now recognized that many boys have been injured by 
special forms of athletic training, and that if any special 
training is given at this time, the negative aim of not 
injuring the boy must be kept very prominently in 
mind. In the case of young or mature men, in whom 
the changes due to inner-growth processes are less 
rapid and varied, the need of keeping in mind this 
negative aim is less, yet is still recognized by physical 
trainers. 

The intellectual trainer has been much less cautious. 
He has apparently scarcely thought of the possibility of 
injuring a child's mind by training it in specific ways. 
There is good reason, however, for believing that in 
early childhood freedom is more important to good men- 
tal development than it is to good physical development. 
The mind of the child may be more injured by " thor- 
ough " mental training of any particular kind, than the 
body by any special form of physical training. 

This theoretical view is supported by the fact that 
children who are in favorable home surroundings but 
do not go to school are generally recognized as develop- 
ing mentally much more rapidly and healthfully than 
those who are being directed in their mental activity 
five hours a day in the schoolroom. A distinct decrease 
in mental alertness and acumen is often to be observed 
in children after a few years in school. They are learn- 
ing, yet their mental development is being retarded in- 
stead of accelerated. It must also be recognized that 
specific attempts at early moral training are sometimes 
not only unsuccessful but positively harmful, the child 
becoming worse than if he had been subjected to no 
special teaching or authoritative control, but had been 



264 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

allowed to learn from experience and imitation how to 
conduct himself in relation to other people. 

In so far as a child is protected from danger and 
from the natural results of his own acts, he of course 
must be controlled by some one else, both for his own 
good and for the comfort of those among whom he lives. 
The person, however, who attempts thus artificially to 
shield and control a child aU of the time, needs to be 
very wise indeed if in thus directing conduct according 
to the ideals of society, he does not weaken or distort 
the fundamental springs of conduct that make strong 
and noble character possible. Some control and teach- 
ing are necessary, that the child may be fi^tted to take 
a proper place in society ; but the aim here, as in physi- 
cal and intellectual training, is positive in that some 
things must be required and taught and conditions made 
as favorable as possible for the desired form of develop- 
ment, but chiefly negative in that the training must be 
given in such a way that the natural, strong, self -direct- 
ive character of the human personality shall not be 
weakened. 

The old-time reformatory, in which boys were taught 
and directed all of the time, is typical of the cases where 
almost the whole responsibility for the moral training 
is taken by those in authority. The George Junior Re- 
public is typical of cases in which conditions for moral 
development are made favorable but little attempt made 
specifically to control conduct or teach morality. The 
kind of boys turned out by these contrasting institutions, 
indicates that the dangers of trying to produce moral 
character authoritatively are considerable. 

Notwithstanding the fact that teachers need at the 
present time chiefly to have their attention called to the 



FUNCTION OF EDUCATION 265 

negative ideal as regards development, yet there is now, 
and will be in the future to a still greater extent, a place 
for positive ideals as to development. At present, how- 
ever, these ideals can be worked out with assurance 
only in training for the performance of special func- 
tions and in more advanced training that helps to 
prepare for occupations, while we must trust more to 
nature and good environment in the development of 
young children. 

It is possible to plan in a more or less scientific way 
the training that wiU best prepare one to become a suc- 
cessful lawyer, doctor, engineer, machinist, etc., and 
this ideal may include some positive characteristics of 
mind and character not necessarily involved in the pos- 
session of certain knowledge and skill, however acquired ; 
yet the negative ideal of not interfering with the devel- 
opment of the individuality of the person receiving the 
professional or technical training, must be kept in mind. 
In a similar way there may be a positive ideal as to the 
characteristic of mind and character the school may seek 
to develop that will make children stronger, better, more 
efficient men and women, whatever position in life they 
may fill. In higher education it is possible at the present 
time, in the light of the world's experience, to give with 
some success such culture and training. We know now 
something of how the adult mind is moulded and devel- 
oped by the study of special departments of knowledge, 
such as art, literature, language, mathematics, science 
and philosophy, although there is not as yet any complete 
agreement as to the nature and possibilities of general 
training. This much is, however, clear : the human race 
has learned a good deal regarding the methods of ap- 
proaching the problems presented in these various fields, 



266 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

and an individual human mind is necessarily moulded 
in accordance with the best product of racial experience, 
when it learns to approach the problems in the ways 
that have been found by the race most satisfactory and 
successful. 

The positive ideal of training minds so that they will 
not react in individual ways that are haphazard, abnor- 
mal and wasteful, but in wholesome, normal and efficient 
ways, as do minds that are the best products of civil- 
ization, may very well be prominent in the minds of 
college and university teachers although the individual 
student should choose the field for which he wishes to 
perfect himself. 

In the case of primary and grammar schools it is 
scarcely safe at the present time to be guided by such 
an ideal. The minds of children are not like the minds 
of adults in whom the inner factors of development have 
already produced their results. The attempts to get them 
to approach and solve problems in accordance with what 
has been found best for highly developed adult minds, 
is likely to injure rather than help. After we learn 
much more about children than we now know, and the 
courses of study have been made over, the primary and 
grammar teachers may form positive ideals of what 
children of each age should be and attempt to realize 
them. At present, however, they should have great re- 
gard for the negative ideal of not interfering with the 
child's development, and much confidence in the belief 
that what the child does and desires when he is natur- 
ally, genuinely, healthfully interested is favorable to 
the best development of his mind and character at 
that stage of development. The teacher should, however, 
present opportunities for acquiring broad and varied 



FUNCTION OF EDUCATION 267 

interests in order that the child's development may not 
be too narrow. 

Even in giving special training in motor-skill or in 
gaining certain required knowledge where general devel- 
opment is not the aim, the teacher must not be too ready 
to suppose that the ways of working and studying best 
suited to an adult will be best for the child. The prob- 
abilities are that he can use more successfully and with 
better effects on his motor and mental development, 
cruder and to him easier and simpler methods. His 
taste, skill and reasoning may not at first be improved 
by delicate colors, exact movements and abstract reason- 
ing, as much as they are by bright colors, free move- 
ments and imaginative pictures. 

In general, then, the older a pupil and the more 
specific the purpose for which he is being trained, the 
more is the school justified in prescribing what he shall 
study and how he shall work, while the younger the 
pupil and the more general the purpose to be accom- 
plished, the more cautious should the educator be in 
imposing matter and method upon the individual. This 
means that the child's own natural interest under favor- 
able conditions and his spontaneous ways of doing things 
are likely to promote his development as effectively as 
prescription and detailed direction by the teacher. She 
should therefore be sure, from actual experience rather 
than from theory, that the child's development will best 
be promoted by her control and direction before she 
interferes with what he wants to do and the way in 
which he does it. 

The Undirected Learning of Children. Children not 
only develop the power to perceive, remember, imagine, 
reason, etc., without any special assistance, but they 



268 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

acquire knowledge without special teaching. We may 
therefore very properly raise the question whether it is 
not worth while to study not only how they develop but 
also the methods by which they learn. The number of 
things learned by a child before he enters school, when 
compared with what he learns in an equal period after 
he enters school, forces one to question whether the 
directed learning in school is not a slower and less effec- 
tive process than the undirected learning outside of 
school. A child begins to learn a language at about 
one year, and by the time he is three or four years old, 
few adults who have studied a new language in school 
have the practical command of it that he has of his 
language. The child, it is true, hears and uses the lan- 
guage more hours a day than does the person who is 
studying a language in school, yet he spends little time 
in serious attention to language learning because he is 
interested in so many other things. In learning his lan- 
guage he also has more to do than the older person in 
learning the foreign language, because he has to ac- 
quire the ideas as well as the words, and he has to get 
control of his vocal organs, which is one of the most 
difficult of motor-accomplishments, requiring very fine 
adjustments of many muscle groups. 

If we compare a child's learning of oral language 
with the same child's learning of the corresponding 
visual language, the advantage is not always in favor 
of the school learning. The child in school has only to 
learn to recognize and to associate the visual word with 
the oral word and idea which are already known, while 
in learning to talk he must get the idea, the oral word, 
associate the two and learn to utter the latter. A child 
of two is likely to have a vocabulary of about four or 



FUNCTION OF EDUCATION 269 

five hundred words, while one of three has about three 
times that number. After a year or two in school he 
frequently does not know so many visual words and can 
write and spell but few of them. Being able to repro- 
duce or write a visual word corresponds to the motor- 
ability to utter the sounds of which a word is composed, 
and does not involve any finer motor-adjustment. It 
seems therefore that the language-teaching given in 
school does, to say the least, not produce more rapid 
learning than when the child learns without special 
teaching. 

A comparison of what a child learns of nature is less 
easy, but there is good reason to believe that in this 
line the advantage is even less in favor of the directed 
learning of the school. These conclusions do not at all 
mean that schools are useless and that no attempt 
should be made to teach children, but they do mean 
that the educator should have great respect for the 
child's own spontaneous learning and should not be too 
hasty in supposing that the usual school methods are 
superior to the methods that are spontaneous and natu- 
ral to the child. 

Modes of Undirected Learning. Since children do 
learn so much and develop so rapidly without much 
teaching and directing, it seems that it is worth while 
to notice a little more closely the means they use in 
acquiring knowledge and skill. 

Chance action, with resulting satisfaction or discom- 
fort, and the consequent "stamping in^' or eliminat- 
ing of the tendency to certain movements, is of course 
always a feature of learning and one that is especially 
prominent in infancy and early childhood. 

The most prominent characteristic of learning during 



270 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

childhood is that the child learns and becomes like the 
people around him chiefly through imitation. He may 
also then and later become like people of whom he 
hears or reads but whom he has not seen. The percep- 
tion or the mental picture of others and of their actions 
is thus a powerful influence to induce the child to make 
all sorts of movements and combinations of movements 
that would not occur by chance, and to induce more 
complex mental states in him as he grows older. 

The child's activities by which he learns, whether 
chance or imitative, may be regarded as play and work. 
Many of the child's early activities partake of the 
nature of both play and work. They also tend to follow 
one another, and the desire to play often serves as a 
motive for working at something that is necessary to be 
done in order to play with the most satisfaction. Games 
with rules and with ends of temporary satisfaction are 
a form of directed play, so that there is direction of 
activity according to rule or toward an end, as in work. 

Outside of school the child learns to work by play- 
ing, while in school the teacher often tries to transform 
work into play, and this reversal of the natural process 
does not usually give satisfactory results. The activity 
lacks the freedom of play and the vigor and the definite 
purposefulness of work. In other words it is " soft 
pedagogy." 

The small child, in manipulating objects, in building 
things, and in dramatic plays of aU kinds, is continu- 
ally directing his activities and overcoming difficulties 
and thus is learning to work. Later, in competing with 
others in contests and games and in sports such as 
sliding, fishing, ball, etc., he endures hardships and 
puts forth his strongest efforts in the accomplishment 



FUNCTION OF EDUCATION 271 

of ends that are necessary to beginning or continuing 
the enjoyable game or sport. If one began by giving a 
child a lesson in building with blocks or in learning to 
play ball it would be work for the child, and a later 
attempt to have him play the game would probably 
excite little interest. When on the other hand the child 
is given no directions as to what he shall do or when he 
shall engage in some activity, but is merely given the 
stimulus of objects to play with and the example of 
others playing, he is likely to begin playing with inter- 
est, and, as he plays, to learn more and more to direct 
his activity vigorously toward definite ends. Work and 
play are thus carried on with a vigor never shown when 
the process is reversed by pretending that the work is 
play. 

In learning to talk the child first uses his vocal organs 
as a plaything, making all sorts of noises, — " c?a, da^ 
da^ ma^ ma^ ma^'' etc. Later, the playful activity be- 
comes directed a little more as he begins to imitate the 
various sounds made around him. He may thus utter 
many words without purpose or meaning. Later, he tries 
to utter words as a means of getting what he wants from 
others and as a means of expressing himself. The power 
gained through play-interest thus prepares him to satisfy 
this work-interest. The method already described, by 
which a child from three to six comes to know the differ- 
ence between images, memories and percepts, by playing 
that things and persons are what they are not, is also 
typical of a natural method of learning. In general, the 
child's most effective modes of learning are, as in this 
case, to a considerable extent the opposite of those usu- 
ally prescribed by formal pedagogy. 

The most essential thing in this natural learning is 



272 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

that it is self-activity, either entirely free or directed 
only by imitative impulses or the desire to meet a situ^ 
ation and secure desirable ends. If the teacher can util- 
ize natural interests in connection with educational ma- 
terials and activities, the child may progress in school 
lines as fast as he does in other lines before entering 
school. 

Common and Individual Characteristics. One of 
the most important questions that the educator has to 
consider is whether to follow the same general plan with 
all children or a special plan for each child. It is gen- 
erally agreed that it is best for adult citizens, especially 
in a republic, to have a large proportion of similar ac- 
quirements, but that the individuality of each person 
shall be preserved, even when they all engage in the 
same occupations. 

The common element is provided in all educational 
systems by a course of study which, during most of the 
period, is usually pretty much the same, whether the 
child is taught in schools, in large classes, or individu- 
ally, at home, by parents or tutors. The methods of 
teaching in the two cases vary more than the subject- 
matter. The time to be spent upon each portion of the 
course of study needs to be still further varied to suit 
the individual. If the child's whole time were spent in 
school, where his activities were continually directed in 
common with the other children of his grade, there would 
undoubtedly be too great prominence given to the pro- 
duction of common characteristics, although even then 
children of strong personality would react to the same 
influences in different ways and thus develop some indi- 
viduality. In institutions the conditions are frequently 
very unfavorable. The influences of authoritative direc- 



FUNCTION OF EDUCATION 273 

tion and the experience of associating with children 
whose individuality has been largely suppressed by the 
same authoritative direction, almost inevitably inter- 
fere with the full development of individuality and give 
characteristics which experts quickly recognize as those 
of an " institutional child." 

In the public schools, where the child spends only 
about five hours a day in the same kind of directed 
activity as his fellows, while the rest of his waking mo- 
ments are spent in the greater freedom of the home, the 
danger of suppressing individuality is greatly minimized. 
This danger is, however, very great in the case of pri- 
mary children. Their individuality is not weU estab- 
lished, and when the child is brought into the new en- 
vironment of the school and is required by a strange 
teacher to do just what forty other children are doing 
at just the same time and in the same way, and is re- 
strained from doing the thousand and one things he 
would like to do or prevented from doing them in his 
own way, there is often, during school hours, an almost 
complete inhibition of individual tendencies. School 
habits of sitting, moving and thinking are soon estab- 
lished, and unless the child has a strong personality or 
a rich and free life outside of school, his individuality 
and the development of his physical and mental powers 
are seriously impaired in the first few grades. This is 
indicated by the fact that statistics show that there are 
more children who repeat the primary than the later 
grades. 

The public school performs one of its greatest func- 
tions in developing common knowledge, habits and 
ideals in its future citizens, a function that it could not 
perform if all school teaching and regulation of conduct 



274 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

were individual. A common standard of knowledge, 
power and achievement, to which every one is expected 
to conform, helps to mould the life of an individual in 
a normal way and to fix in his mind and character 
standards by means of which his achievements and 
ideals may be guided. Yet if the school were the only 
source from which he could gain ideas of what is ex- 
pected of him, the results would be unfortunate, even in 
the case of children whose personalities are more fully 
developed than are those of primary children. But he 
is brought in contact with various other standards in 
his own home and other homes, in the street and in his 
reading, by which he may modify the standards that are 
being impressed upon him in school. For these reasons, 
and because of the great importance of competition be- 
tween children who are trying to do the same things, 
both as a stimulus to activity and as a means of finding 
their real place as compared with others, it is not likely 
that the system of educating children in classes will 
ever be wholly given up, even if it were not less expen- 
sive than other methods. Some provision, however, 
needs to be made for giving children more individual 
teaching, especially in the primary grades. 

There is a growing feeling that a considerable pro- 
portion of children of all ages cannot properly be edu- 
cated with other children in the ordinary school. The 
reason for this will be clear when we recall the fact 
that this is the period of competition, in which one best 
develops himself and his powers by associating with a 
variety of persons of nearly his own powers and inter- 
ests and competing with them in a number of the same 
activities. It is evident that those who are much su- 
perior or much inferior in the activities in which all 



FUNCTION OF EDUCATION 275 

are engaged, are, if such a condition continues, in a 
somewhat abnormal situation, because they are shut off 
from any good, wholesome competition with their equals. 
By individual instruction such children may sometimes 
be made to fit into one of the regular grades, but in 
other cases they should either continue to receive indi- 
vidual instruction or else be placed in a class with 
other children of approximately their own ability or 
deficiency, although too much uniformity is to be 
avoided in forming groups for special instruction. 

Besides children who are much inferior or much su- 
perior in general ability, there are some who are supe- 
rior in one line of activity and inferior in another. Al- 
though the methods of dealing with such children may 
well be varied, it is generally believed that the course 
of study should be much the same for these as for other 
children during most of the grammar grades, although 
the time spent upon the course and upon the different 
subjects may well be varied to suit individual needs. 
There is good ground for this belief in the fact that 
they need to be normalized and that the graded-school 
period is especially well suited for making the common 
acquisitions necessary to the success and happiness of 
those who are to live together, while there is sufficient 
and more appropriate time later for making special 
acquisitions. 

There are still other children who are exceptional in 
some way, usually in the form of some physical defect, 
which results in important changes in mental charac- 
teristics. Children who are deformed, or who are lack- 
ing in motor-control, or who have any other peculiarity 
which will readily be noticed, cannot easily acquire a 
normal development among normal children without a 



276 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

great deal of individual attention. The child is often 
made to feel that he is different from other children by 
the comments and the actions of others, including the 
teacher. He is made to feel that he belongs in a sepa- 
rate class from the others, and cannot have the helpful 
experiences of common interests and competitive activ- 
ity. Such children must either be educated in special 
classes or wholly by themselves, or there must be some 
kind of combination of these three forms of instruction, 
— individual, special class, and regular class teaching. 
The combination or alternation is likely to give the 
better results. 

In dealing with individuals and with special classes 
of any of the types discussed above, the highest degree 
of tact and skill and of accurate and sound judgment is 
necessary. There is danger, on the one hand, that the 
parent or teacher will so fully realize and recognize the 
peculiarity of the pupil that she will treat him in such 
a way as to make him realize it and cause increased de- 
velopment and permanent retention of that peculiarity. 
When a child has little or no chance to compare him- 
self with others of his own capacity, he is guided even 
more than ordinarily in his judgment of what he can 
do, by what his parent or teacher believes and expects 
of him. There is great danger, if she is sympathetic 
and realizes fully his deficiencies, that she will expect 
too little of him. She needs to fortify herself against 
this, and at the same time help the child to form ideals 
of his possibilities, by accounts of the greatest things 
that have been accomplished by persons laboring under 
the same handicap. She must know what the child's 
limitations are, but she must manifest that knowledge 
to the child as little as possible. Even if the child is 



FUNCTION OF EDUCATION 277 

wholly deaf, it is better to talk to him just as if he 
could hear. These truths are now generally recognized 
by the best superintendents of institutions for the blind, 
the deaf and the feeble minded. 

The opposite danger in the case of one who is acting 
as a tutor of either a normal or an exceptional child, is 
that of ignoring what the child really is, can do, and 
wishes to be, and trying to make him over into what 
she conceives he should become. A strong personality 
directing the education of an individual child may thus 
interfere with his normal development to a far greater 
extent than is likely to occur even under extreme insti- 
tutional control with uniform and well-understood stand- 
ards and rules. A weaker personality may fail to de- 
velop the child according to her ideals, but may at the 
same time prevent him from developing normally, be- 
cause he is stirred up to oppose whatever she attempts, 
instead of developing along the line of his own indi- 
vidual tendencies ; while a still weaker person serves as 
a means of making the child selfish and tyrannical by 
acting as a buffer to his stronger tendencies. 

EXERCISES 

1. Describe the ideals that have been prominent at differ- 
ent ages and in different nations. To what extent are our 
present courses of study in accordance with our present 
ideals ? 

2. What can psychology and child-study contribute to de- 
termining the general value of a classical as compared with 
a scientific, commercial or industrial course of study ? 

3. In what ways is there danger of injuring a child by 
thorough school-training in the first grade ? In the fifth ? In 
the tenth ? 



278 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

4. When should children begin to specialize and when may 
positive ideals in education become prominent? 

5. Describe in detail the amount of knowledge and skill 
gained and the method of learning used by children in learn- 
ing to play ball, construct a wireless telegraphy apparatus, 
or to do anything else outside of school. 

6. Discuss the relative advantages of class, special class, 
individual or combined methods of teaching children of dif- 
ferent types and ages. 



CHAPTER XI 

AIMS, MATERIALS AND METHODS AT DIFFERENT 
PERIODS 

Hitherto the aims of education have been regarded 
as mucli the same at all ages, but now that we realize 
how different children are at different stages of develop- 
ment, we begin to appreciate the need of recognizing 
this in education. Not only must different educational 
material be used but the aims and methods must be 
varied to suit the stage of development, if serious injury 
and retardation are not to result. Aims and methods 
that are well adapted to one stage of development may 
injure more than help when used too early, or when con- 
tinued into the next stage. It follows, therefore, that 
we must consider the purposes, subjects and methods 
adapted to each stage. This is the specific demand 
which genetic psychology and child study are now mak- 
ing of educators. 

A New Basis for Educational Courses. Courses of 
study have always been artificial, especially from the 
standpoint of the child. Adults have looked over the 
field and selected the knowledge and skill that seems 
most necessary or desirable for adult life and arranged 
the topics and exercises in what seemed to them the 
most logical way, or the way psychologicall}^ the best for 
effective learning. 'Experience has brought about many 
changes in this plan, but the fundamental ideas upon 
which courses of study were originally formed still 
dominate. 



280 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

Since what is being learned is admittedly for use in 
the future rather than in the present, learning takes the 
prominent place in school instruction, in grading and 
promotion, and doing holds a subordinate place. The 
ideal of a systematic, logical or scientific arrangement 
of knowledge is also naturally made prominent. This 
frequently leads to the further assumption that what- 
ever is thus presented is so formulated in the minds of 
the pupils. It is equally natural and logical that adult 
standards of accuracy in thought and expression should 
be applied to the work of children and also used in 
artistic and constructive work. If adult standards dom- 
inate in the making of a course of study, it is only 
proper that they should be applied in carrying it out ; 
and the attempt to preserve the adult type of a course 
of study and to allow the child's standard of achieve- 
ment to be used in carrying it out, can only result in a 
soft, inefficient pedagogy. In a similar way the attempt 
to appeal to the child's native interest when forcing 
upon him what is useful only to the adult, leads to 
artificiality and inefficiency. 

The new idea in forming courses of study is that 
what the child is, and the conditions, materials and ac- 
tivities most favorable to his developing into what it is 
desired he shall become, shall determine the course of 
study in each stage of development, rather than the 
ideal of what the mature man needs to be, know or do. 
The child outside of school is not used to having the 
materials of knowledge presented in a systematic but 
in a more or less disconnected way, and he develops 
by organizing them according to his own needs and 
interests. He is not nearly so much interested in what 
he needs to know when he is a man, as in finding out 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 281 

what helps him to accomplish some immediate, objec- 
tive end, or answer some subjective question. He cares 
not for system, but only for that which helps him to 
do, or which satisfies his questioning. His mental 
grasp is small and his motives to action specific and 
immediate rather than general and remote, as in the 
case of adults. 

The ideal course of study must recognize these truths 
and must be so broad and flexible as to meet all indi- 
vidual needs, and so planned to fit changing interests 
and abilities as to give the best opportunity for the 
development of the child into what the man should be- 
come. In such a course of study, learning and doing 
cannot be separated and motives lead and direct all the 
activity. This can only be accomplished by allowing 
the child facilities and stimuli for a variety of play and 
work suited to the stage of development he has reached 
and to his individual capacity. The units of such a 
course will consist of certain general play and work ex- 
ercises suited to all the children, and a series of projects 
or things to do, adapted not only to the age but to in- 
dividuals. 

At first these projects may be carried on in a playful 
way, but gradually they should assume more of the 
work-type, not in the sense that they are forced upon 
the child instead of chosen by him, but in the sense that 
a more permanently valuable end to be attained is the 
dominant motive and the director of effort. This wiU 
lead the child to persist in a certain kind of activity and 
even to practice it because it is a means to a desired 
end. A child who undertakes to make an apron may 
find it desirable to practice a little in using the scissors 
in cutting before trying to cut it out, and to practice 



282 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

the kind of stitch to be used before beginning to sew it 
together. The one who is planning a garden-plot or a 
box may find it necessary to study and practice with 
units of measure and to learn certain number-combi- 
nations and practice on certain kinds of problems. It 
will probably be necessary for him to find out by expe- 
rience that he wastes time and materials by trying to 
do things without the necessary knowledge and skill. 
The more he can be led to appreciate this, the more 
ready will he be to engage in activities or drill-work 
that he can use for more remote ends. 

An educational course based on the project idea, will, 
if properly planned and applied, lead to the mastery of 
the knowledge and skill required in special lines and 
useful to adults. Beginning with no differentiation, one 
portion of a subject after another will be selected for 
special study and practice, as the child sees its relation 
to desirable ends. Much of what is now gained by 
specialized study and drill can be gained from inciden- 
tal practice in doing things, but some special study and 
drill is likely to be necessary. Just as fast as the child 
is able to perceive such necessity, is he ready to carry 
on the study of a special subject in a more or less sys- 
tematic way. As he goes on, new subjects are selected 
for special study and a longer series of lessons more sys- 
tematically arranged may be given, until in the college 
period everything may be specialized and organized in 
accordance with the best results of racial experience. 
Following this plan, knowing and doing will be contin- 
ually correlated, and ends made specific and sufficiently 
immediate to furnish an incentive to effort. In carrying 
out such a plan, success depends to a very great extent 
upon the degree of interest excited in the individual 



AIMS AT DIFFEKENT PERIODS 283 

child by the project upon which he is engaged. If he is 
not greatly interested in the thing to be done, his inter- 
est in it needs to be increased by the desire to please 
some one or to succeed as well or better than some one 
else. It may also be necessary to require him to finish 
one project before he is allowed to undertake another. 

An important question arises as to the standard that 
shall be adopted in judging of the success of the child's 
efforts. On the one hand the child must feel that he 
has succeeded, if interest is to continue, while, on the 
other, he must become less easily satisfied if he is really 
being educated by what he is doing. To accomplish 
these ends, projects must be such as are attractive to 
the child, but they must involve knowledge and skill in 
dealing with the materials used, which he possesses or 
can acquire before he loses all desire to carry out the 
projects. Occasional failures may be permitted in order 
that the child may appreciate the need of preparing 
himself to succeed ; but in general he must be led to 
reach what he at least regards as success. To raise his 
standards of what success should mean, the work of 
companions should be compared with his, and later he 
should be made acquainted with adult standards, and 
finally with the higher standards of the best work. In 
many lines it is difficult to increase ability to do as fast 
as the ability to appreciate, hence care is needed that 
standards are not raised too rapidly so that the child 
becomes discouraged. This has been the case to a very 
great extent in drawing and manual work, where errors 
can readily be seen ; hence children of ten or twelve are 
often afraid to try to make what six-year-olds attempt 
without hesitation. 

It will be a long time before a course of study of this 



284 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

kind can be successfully used by ordinary teachers in 
large schools where a graded system is maintained. To 
make it work successfully, so that pupils may pass from 
one grade to another and one school to another, the 
present standards of marking and promoting will have 
to be abandoned and individual records of what he has 
done, sent with each pupil ; or the teachers must be 
trained so that they can quickly test a child and find 
out what he is prepared to undertake and upon what 
he needs special drill. 

It will be many years before the genetic individual 
and project idea wiU. dominate the planning of school- 
work, and in the meantime teachers will have to follow 
the old courses. Wherever there is freedom or progres- 
sive ideas, however, they will be permitted to modify 
the work in accordance with the needs and interests of 
the child until courses can be formulated and tested 
on the new basis. 

Primary Grades. The transition from the active, free 
life outside of school to the suppressed and almost con- 
tinually directed activity of the schoolroom is a change 
that is likely to check development in much the same 
way as does the transplanting of a tree from the nur- 
sery to the orchard. The aim of not checking develop- 
ment should at this time be made more prominent than 
that of giving specific knowledge and training. One of 
the wisest educators of the present time once said: 
" When I find they are trying to teach my boy any- 
thing in the kindergarten, I take him out." Children 
should be allowed as much freedom as possible when 
entering school, yet they must begin at once to learn 
the thing that is now most necessary, i. e., how to live 
and work and play with other children, as distinguished 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 285 

from living an individual life. A tactful teacher who 
understands the imitative tendencies of children and 
appreciates their great suggestibility, can successfully 
lead them into engaging in all kinds of group-activities, 
without directing too much or suppressing their indi- 
viduality. 

In order that the conditions may be favorable for 
physical development the children should be allowed 
to be physically active much more than they usually 
are. They should, when possible, be taken out of doors 
part of the time, and should have rhythmic exercises in 
games and motion songs, and should have a good deal 
of opportunity for constructive activity in which fine 
and exact movements are not required. Where, as in 
some primary schools, the principal muscular exercise 
besides that of " sitting still " involves movement of the 
fine muscles of the eyes and vocal organs in reading, 
and of the fingers in writing, the conditions are cer- 
tainly not favorable to physical development. When 
the children are required to sit quietly for long periods 
of time, and the air in the room is hot and close, the 
conditions are positively bad and the growth of the 
child is likely to be retarded, his physical vitality low- 
ered and mental alertness decreased. 

The conditions favoring intellectual development are 
also often very unfavorable. There is often little in 
the schoolroom to stimulate the child's perception, im- 
agination or thought, and little opportunity to play 
with, examine and ask questions about what does excite 
his interest. Although stimulated by his teacher and 
companions, yet the expression of ideas is suppressed 
and regulated to such an extent that his intellectual 
activities often soon become less vigorous than when he 



286 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

is outside of school, where there are more interesting- 
things, and more freedom of expression and of doing 
permitted. He is in an artificial environment, where 
he cannot play freely and where he often has little 
motive for working except such as is furnished by 
teacher and mates. The child after a time may be in- 
terested in any activity that brings approval from the 
teacher or gives opportunity for competing with mates, 
but in the transition from interest in the things and 
activities themselves to the imitative and social interest 
in doing, there is danger of checking and misdirecting 
intellectual development. Sometimes the child's intel- 
lectual powers in the school are turned wholly in the 
direction of studying the teacher, and answering and 
doing according to her wishes, rather than to under- 
standing what is being learned and accomplishing what 
has been undertaken. The ability to react to people 
and meet their wishes is very desirable but if it leads 
one to a condition in which he does not know or try to 
know for himself, but only says or does what will satisfy 
some one else, it must seriously interfere with intel- 
lectual development. 

In conduct, the desire to please the teacher may well 
be one of the strongest motives at this time ; but the 
teacher should exercise control in such a way that the 
child will not merely try to conform to the moods of 
the teacher, but will form habits of acting in proper 
ways toward herself, his work and his mates. In intel- 
lectual matters, however, the teacher, while doing what 
is necessary to arouse interest, should keep herself in 
the background, and not suggest by words, gestures or 
tone of voice what she expects the children to say, but 
allow them to perceive and understand for themselves. 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 287 

The course of study in the primary grades has al- 
ways made reading, writing and arithmetic prominent. 
So far as reading is concerned this practice seems to be 
justified by present-day conditions and demands. The 
child must learn of things beyond his immediate envi- 
ronment and must have access to the great treasures of 
experience and knowledge that have been accumulated 
through the ages. In order to do this, he must become 
famihar with a visual language. So necessary is read- 
ing and so immediately valuable is it, that there is 
justification for the practice of making reading the 
chief subject in the first years of school life. Arithme- 
tic and writing are less important, less immediately 
useful, and studying them is likely to produce more 
interference with physical and mental development than 
reading, hence it is well that these subjects should not 
be emphasized so much in the primary grades. It is 
not necessary that they should be entirely omitted, but 
it is best that arithmetic should be taught incidentally 
and writing gTadually. 

Drawing, painting and modeling, as a play and as a 
means of expression, may be made more prominent than 
writing, but there should be little attempt to make them 
exact or artistic. Color rather than form should be 
used for artistic purposes, and the child should be 
allowed to use bright colors until he learns to appreci- 
ate the intermediate tones. Manual constructive ac- 
tivity should be prominent, but as a means of favoring 
general motor and mental development rather than of 
acquiring specific knowledge and skill. The results of 
constructive activity are less important than the activity 
itself ; hence what has been made of blocks or sand 
may be quickly destroyed. Paper is a satisfactory 



288 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

material for constructing many things which later must 
be made of more substantial material. 

Before the child can read freely he needs to have his 
imagination stimulated and needs to be made acquain- 
ted with a wider environment by means of stories of 
people, animals, plants and other objects of nature. 
He needs also to have opportunity for observing ob- 
jects and phenomena of nature. These prepare for 
history, geography and more serious scientific studies 
that are to come later. The child is now getting per- 
ceptive and experimental knowledge of things that are 
to be represented in imagination and later understood 
in a conceptual way when he studies the sciences. 

Although specific knowledge and skill in aesthetic 
lines should not be striven for, yet the child should 
have many opportunities to be impressed by beautiful 
colors and harmonious sounds in music and poetry, and 
should have a good deal of practice in singing, in rhyth- 
mic motion, and in poetry and recitation, partly because 
they are favorable to development in desirable lines 
and partly because they furnish a perceptual and motor 
basis for later, more specific teaching and training in 
art, music and literature. 

The methods used in the primary schools should be 
modeled after those used by the child in his sponta- 
neous learning. No attempt should be made to trans- 
form the child at once into a serious worker, but, 
starting with his playful tendencies, he should, during 
the first three grades, gradually be transformed into a 
worker. He should be led to become interested in 
playing and working with words, figures, colors, forms 
and objects, without emphasis at first upon the specific 
truths to be learned or skill acquired. In doing the 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 289 

various tilings he finds it interesting to do, he will in- 
evitably learn a great many things incidentally, more 
rapidly and effectively than if he were taught the 
specific truths and drilled upon them. He may get the 
best possible training in the perception of color, form, 
size and pitch, and much knowledge of the physical 
properties of things, without any special teaching but 
through learning incidentally, while playing, construct- 
ing, dramatizing, etc. 

Much of even the more formal subjects may thus be 
mastered in a largely unconscious and incidental way. 
Formerly the alphabet was specifically taught to child- 
ren, and usually considerable time was necessary ; but 
now the letters are learned incidentally without waste 
of time or effort. The success in that respect of the 
present-day primary teacher is well characterized iij the 
remark of a first-grade child : "I know all the letters 
and I don't know when I learned them." When further 
progress has been made, children will also learn how to 
pronounce the various letter combinations and how to 
spell various syllables and words, without special teach- 
ing and drill and without knowing when they learned 
them. 

The same will be true of much of what is learned in 
other subjects during the first two or three grades. The 
children will be doing interesting things concerned in 
the course of study, and incidentally they wiU be rapidly 
and effectively acquiring the knowledge and skill desired. 
It is not at all necessary that school work during this 
period should be systematic in the sense of being in any 
logical sequence or involving any specific mode of or- 
ganizing ideas. The essential thing is that there shaU 
be sufficiently varied activities and enough alternation 



290 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

and combination of work and play, with objects, pro- 
cesses and ideas so related to each other as to make 
the work interesting whether the arrangement seems 
the easiest or not. The more systematic a course of 
lessons and the more consistently it leads to a few 
specific ends, the worse, in general, is it for primary 
children. It involves too much direction of the children's 
activity and is not varied and free enough to be inter- 
esting and educative. Moreover, the child is not used 
to taking in knowledge in organized form, but to re- 
ceiving all sorts of varied impressions and organizing 
them in a crude way in accordance with his own inter- 
ests and purposes at the time. His interest in organizing 
ideas is different from that of the organizer of the lesson- 
series ; hence, though he may be induced to acquire the 
form of expression desired, there is usually no real inter- 
nal organization of ideas in accordance with the ideas of 
the planner of the series. 

Most of the earlier and more elaborate plans for 
teaching reading, writing and numbers were worse than 
no plans at all. More recently they are better, because 
there is less attempt to secure one or two results in 
a logical way, but a combination of many aims and 
methods and more recognition of the value of incidental 
learning. Even now, however, the value of the elaborate 
methods in various subjects is chiefly that they give 
many suggestions of interesting things to do with the 
materials concerned in the subject. Children are able 
to learn to read by every one of the scores of different 
methods that have been devised, and they have often 
learned without any use of a systematic method. What- 
ever most interests children in learning to read, and 
keeps .them for a short time every day interested in 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 291 

looking at and discriminating letter combinations and 
associating them with the corresponding sounds and 
ideas, is most successful. Success is not due so much to 
system as to the excitation of interest. 

In numbers, by the use of special methods, children 
may be made to appear to make great advance during 
the first three grades ; but it is doubtful whether they 
make as much real advance in the sense of being pre- 
pared for future work in arithmetic as they would if 
there was no attempt to teach specific facts and truths 
of number in a systematic way, but merely the giving 
of many opportunities and motives for noting, finding 
out and using number relations incidentally in their play 
and work. Such concrete and meaningful experience with 
numbers for the first two or three years of school life, 
gives a more natural basis for thorough and systematic 
learning later, than do systematic schemes of teaching 
numbers. 

It is not so important that the facts of number should 
be known at this time as that the child should appreci- 
ate the values of numbers. He should also during this 
period learn the language of oral and visual arithmetical 
symbols such as " times," + , etc. 

The attempt, however, to get accurate expressions of 
thought in the primary grades often results unfortu- 
nately, especially if the child is often required to use 
the exact language of mathematicians, since his ideas of 
number and of mathematical relations are at this time 
naturally concrete and entirely lacking in generality 
and abstract accuracy. 

The teacher needs to have definite ideals of the way in 
which the children are to develop under her instruction, 
but the children themselves may well be largely uncon- 



292 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

scions of the progress that they are making toward 
her ideal, althongh they may be working toward ends in 
which they are interested, and stimulated by the ap- 
proach toward success. Children may also be led to form 
habits and change habits by arranging the conditions 
under which they work, and indicating things to be done, 
without directing their attention specifically to the 
habit that is being formed or changed. If the teacher 
arranges the drill in writing numbers or in dictation so 
that the work needs to be done rapidly, and shows ap- 
proval of those who get it done first, the children will 
try to work rapidly without thinking anything about 
forming habits of rapid work ; while if she emphasizes 
accuracy, they may form habits of working slowly and 
carefully without ' having their attention directed speci- 
fically to the way they are working. By keeping them 
interestedly busy, they may form both ideals and habits 
of industry without knowing it. Neither ideals nor 
habits, as consciously represented in the minds of child- 
ren during this period, play as prominent a part in their 
development and learning as teachers usually think ; and 
it is probable that teachers who talk most about habits 
and ideals succeed least well in getting the children 
to form them. This is surely the case if the negative 
phase of the ideal or habit is the one to which atten- 
tion is most called. 

The method by which the activity of the children 
may most readily be directed is not that of direct com- 
mand and dictation, but of example and suggestion and 
of arousing interest in doing, so that the children will 
be largely self -directive as they are outside of school. 

Although they should be shown how to accomplish 
what they wish to do, largely by example and sugges- 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 293 

tion, yet during this period they should also learn to un- 
derstand and follow directions given in words. This 
may be done by talking about how a thing is done 
while doing it, and by sometimes having a child tell how 
he is doing something and later asking him to tell, after 
he has done a thing, how he did it, perhaps in order to 
make it clear so that another child will understand how 
to do it. There should, at this period, be little telling 
beforehand, either by teacher or pupil, how to do new 
things, but the children should be prepared during this 
period for such procedure in the next. 

Intermediate Grades. During the ages from nine to 
twelve, which usually cover grades from three to six, 
the aim should be to perfect the child's knowledge of 
symbols and give him facility in their use, and to intro- 
duce him to a wider environment of men and things as 
they are described in history and geography. 

Instruction and training may now be much more 
specific and definite than in the preceding grades. Al- 
though incidental and largely unconscious learning may 
still have a place, yet the child should at this time have 
more definite ideas of what he is to do and of how it is 
to be done. It is not enough that he shall simply be 
doing interesting things, but he should have more work- 
interest in holding himself to a specific task and to more 
exact results. Class-drills may also be given during 
this period of habit formation, with more advantage 
and with less injury than at any other period. 

The intellectual activity that may be best used and 
trained during this period is the imagination. In the 
preceding period it should be kept active in a more or 
less playful way, but in this period it should be directed 
and controlled in accordance with realities. That is, the 



294 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

child should be trained in picturing absent objects and 
unwitnessed events as set forth in words, as they actually 
are and were. The child is no longer to picture 
solely according to fancy, but according to descriptions. 
If this is done he can get a knowledge of distant ob- 
jects and events rivaling in clearness and vividness the 
local knowledge obtained by actual experience. At the 
same time he should learn to express clearly in oral 
words, and to a considerable extent in writing, what he 
has pictured in imagination as he has heard or read the 
description. If he has done a good deal of silent read- 
ing he will, before the close of this period, be almost if 
not quite as well able to picture what is presented by 
visual words as by oral. 

The child should finish learning to read during this 
period. Before its close he should be able, with the help 
of a dictionary, to get thought and to pronounce words 
correctly without help from the teacher, and should be 
able to read with reasonably good expression. Further 
practice in reading should be incidental to gaining and 
expressing truth, and gaining a better appreciation of 
good literature. The aim in reading exercises during 
this period should not usually be good reading in gen- 
eral, but, more specifically, to get the exact thought or 
to pronounce accurately or to express effectively, one 
thing being made prominent at a time, then occasionally 
all kept in mind at once. 

In spelling^ punctuation and penmanship the child 
should attain a good deal of proficiency during this 
period, but should not need a great deal of special in- 
struction and practice other than can be obtained inci- 
dentally. In spelling, he should know the relations be- 
tween sounds and letter combinations well enough to 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 295 

guess pretty well how new words are spelled, and he 
should be able to look them up in a dictionary. He 
should also be habituated to noting how words are 
spelled in every subject he studies, and should make a 
special study of words that he has misspelled and per- 
haps of some that he is likely to use and may misspell. 
No abstract grammar and few if any abstract definitions 
or rules of any kind should be learned during this 
period, as such practice is likely to lead the child to 
substitute verbal memory for imagination and thought. 
If his writing has gradually been becoming more cor- 
rect in form, smaller in size and more rapid, and his po- 
sition and movements are good, he will need no further 
special training in penmanship but only incidental prac- 
tice, with care that his writing does not degenerate as 
he becomes more interested in what he is doing and as 
he strives to write as fast as necessary. 

In arithmetic^ the child has already acquired a good 
deal of the language necessary to the expression of 
numerical operations, and knows some facts of numbers. 
The aim should now be, not to put him as rapidly as 
possible in possession of the facts of number by means 
of memory-activity, but to teach him how to use the 
facts that he already knows, in finding out combina- 
tions that he does not know. For example, if he knows 
how to count by twos, he can easily see how to count by 
fours, then how to tell the number of twos or fours 
required to make eight, twenty, etc. If he knows what 
five and two are, he can readily learn 12 + 5 = 17 and 
22 + 5 = 27, etc. If he knows that 5 + 5 = 10, he can see 
that 6 + 5 = 11 and 4 + 5 = 9; if he knows what three 
times two are and what four times three are, he can 
easily tell what 4 x 23 are. 



296 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

In the preceding period the child may count objects 
or use his fingers or form mental images of objects, but 
in this period he should learn to use whatever he al- 
ready knows of the facts of numbers in finding out new 
facts. Drill in facts already learned may then be ob- 
tained by using them in gaining other facts, and formal 
drill is thus reduced to a minimum if not entirely elim- 
inated. He should also learn the written modes of add- 
ing, multiplying, etc., as means to be used when large 
numbers are to be handled. From incidental experience 
the child should know considerable of fractions and 
weights and measures. He should now make this know- 
ledge more complete and learn the more effective writ- 
ten methods of solving problems in which fractions and 
measures are involved. All these operations should be 
taught not merely as things to be learned, but as easier 
means of solving such problems where the numbers are 
large or complex. 

Care should be taken that in learning the mechanism 
of the processes that may be used, the child shall not 
lose the power to represent clearly the problem to be 
solved. The child should become familiar with the 
proper use of general terms, such as sum, divisor, etc., 
but he should not be required to learn abstract state- 
ments, such as " the product divided by the multiplier 
equals the multiplicand," although he should know this 
truth in particular examples, and at the close of this 
period may be ready to express it in abstract terms. 

The history during this period should be of individ- 
uals and of events in which they are concerned. There 
should be some grouping of men and events according 
to time, but little learning of dates. The chief purpose 
of history should be to enlarge the child's knowledge of 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 297 

human conduct, so that he will have had a great deal 
of experience mentally with all sorts of people and will 
have learned much of the results of various kinds of 
conduct. He will thus be prepared to understand better 
the conduct of people around him and to appreciate 
why certain acts are to be avoided and others imitated. 
The historical materials should be presented in such a 
way that the child can use the knowledge he has of 
things, persons and places, in picturing what is de- 
scribed, but the pictures thus formed will also give him 
a new view of people and events that are already famil- 
iar to him. 

In geography^ the knowledge of earth phenomena 
and of things and places around him, obtained by ac- 
tual observation, is to be added to by more detailed 
perception, but chiefly by means of the imagination. 
To this end the language of geography must be learned 
so that maps and their special symbols can be read. 
To do this the child must have practice in seeing how 
things around him are indicated by means of maps and 
figures and by the special terms applied to natural 
forms, to physical phenomena, and to the various in- 
dustries that he has perceived or has been led to pic- 
ture. 

Physical facts should not, at this time, be the chief 
study, but people and how they live and are influenced by 
the climate, mountains, rivers, oceans, etc. The import- 
ant thing is not the learning of certain facts, but defi- 
nite, interesting pictures of distant people and places, 
and increasing incidental knowledge of geographical 
language and facts. The natural interest the child now 
has in seeing new things should be satisfied by the form- 
ation of vivid pictures of the new and strange. 



298 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

In drawing^ the chief aim should still be to express 
one's ideas of things by means of forms, but incident- 
ally the aesthetic idea may become more prominent in 
the latter part of this period. What is drawn should not 
now merely symbolize what it stands for, but should 
look like it. Instruction how to proceed, especially in 
the drawing of solids, should therefore accompany prac- 
tice. Great care, however, should be taken that appre- 
ciation of what should be done does not go too far ahead 
of execution, so that the child becomes distrustful of 
his ability and unwilling to try to draw anything. 

In manual construction the child is at first satisfied 
with making things that look like objects in which he is 
interested ; but in general he is soon desirous of having 
them more like real things ; e. g., paper sleds satisfy for 
a while, but later they must be large and strong enough 
to be used. In the preceding period construction was 
largely playful, but now the child cares more for using 
the things after they have been made. 

Although imitation may stiU be an important method 
of learning, yet it should not, as in the former period, 
be so much an impulse to do something that others are 
doing, as it should be a voluntary attempt to do things 
that the child desires to do, in the way that he is shown. 
The doing of the thing should be accompanied by a 
description of how it is done, and before the close of this 
period the child should have had a good deal of prac- 
tice in doing things according to directions, without 
being shown. 

The plans of teaching during this period may be more 
systematic than in the preceding when the child was 
learning in a semi-playful and unconscious way. More 
definite ideas of what is to be done may be formed by 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 299 

the child and activities directed accordingly. The know- 
ledge that he acquires should be classified to some ex- 
tent, and there should be some use of outlines, with 
practice in paragraphing. This should not be formal, 
but the effort should be made to get him to think of 
one topic at a time, and thus systematic thinking, indi- 
cated by good paragraphing, will gradually become 
natural. The teacher needs to be very careful not to 
try to push this process too rapidly or to direct it wholly 
in accordance with her own mental tendencies, other- 
wise the paragraphing will have only a mechanical 
meaning to the child. 

The child now needs less individual attention and is 
better able to work with a group according to direction 
than in the preceding period. He is greatly influenced 
by others and the teacher may now depend a good deal 
upon the competitive tendency as a motive for doing 
almost anything. Some individual competition is good, 
but it is well to have much of it in the form of compe- 
tition between groups. In order that it may not become 
too personal, the competing groups should be changed 
occasionally so that the child will be working now with, 
and at another time against, the same individual. 

In conduct the child is now influenced much more by 
his companion's actions and by what they are likely to 
do in the way of teasing him, hence the teacher can no 
longer rely fully upon her own personal approval as a 
sufficient motive to induce the child to do as he should. 
She must become a leader and a former of public sen- 
timent among her children, and induce individual child- 
ren to conform because of their desire to be in harmony 
with the public sentiment. Few children at this time 
can stand out very long against the sentiment of their 



300 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

mates. The teacher can control most effectively by 
acquiring influence over the pupils who are leaders in 
the school. 

Higher Grades. In these grades, at the age of 
about twelve to fourteen, the interest in study, if there 
is any, is genuine work-interest. The child is not satis- 
fied with playing at doing or learning, but wants to do 
as adults do and know as they know. It is a time at 
which boys and girls often want to leave school because 
they cannot see the use of what they are doing ; but if 
such children can be made to see that what they are 
learning will be useful to them in any occupation in 
which they think of engaging, they are willing to work 
at it. Others develop new intellectual and sesthetic in- 
terests which give them a new appreciation of art or 
literature. It is therefore a period in which boys and 
girls should be allowed to begin to specialize according 
to their plans and interests. To spend half of the time 
in book study and half in vocational work is one of the 
most effective ways for youths to learn the value of 
what they are studying. Even if the special line of study 
is not followed up later, it is likely to be of greater value 
than more general and less definite study. The boy learns 
more truths of value by working at several occupations, 
such as carpentering, plumbing, typewriting, etc., and 
gets in touch with the human life of the day better, 
than by studying general science, languages and mathe- 
matics, especially if he is not interested in them. 

This is a time when the boy enjoys doing such 
things as men do, and likes to compete, stand tests and 
make records ; and so far as school work is concerned, 
this is a period when he should spend his time not so 
much in getting general information as in testing and 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 301 

proving the knowledge and skill he has already acquired, 
in new and special lines. He should no longer spend 
his time in learning to read, write, cipher, draw, con- 
struct, etc., but should see what he can do in attacking 
special problems involving these activities. He should 
thus perfect his knowledge and skill in those lines and 
make up his deficiencies by special study and practice 
when necessary, as he discovers how they limit his suc- 
cess ; e. g., he wishes to write a letter, ordering some- 
thing that he wants, or needs to make out a bill, and 
finds that he requires practice in more rapid writing, 
accurate figuring, etc. He should not now be directed 
so fuUy as to what to do and how to do it, but should 
have some choice as to what he shall do and consider- 
able freedom as to how he shall work. Instead of being 
scolded or punished for failures, he should take the con- 
sequences of his wrong methods and his mistakes as 
men have to do, by paying cost of material, making 
over, etc. 

This is a time when the child cares more for under- 
standing things. He should be assisted in getting a.t 
the general truths involved in processes and industries, 
and in expressing his thoughts more accurately, instead 
of being required or encouraged to memorize words and 
formulas. In mathematics he is now better prepared 
and more ready to see how general principles may be 
applied in various lines, and is disposed to make and 
use generalizations. A little practical algebra and geo- 
metry may often be used, along with the general arith- 
metical processes. 

In geography and history the teacher should aim to 
have the pupil not only represent in imagination what is 
described, but understand and state the reasons govern- 



302 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

ing natural phenomena and the actions of human beings 
individually and in groups. Leaders in industrial lines, 
as well as warriors and kings, should be studied. 

High School. In this period the work should be 
much more systematic, and ideas better organized for 
use. Emphasis should be placed not merely on doing 
things well, but upon learning to do them in the easiest, 
quickest and best way. The controlling ideas in doing 
should be not what the teacher thinks or what com- 
panions think and do, but the principles that obtain in 
business and social life and in art and science. 

One of the chief aims should now be to perfect the 
concepts that have previously been formed, add to them 
and organize them in a systematic way. The attempt 
should not be made to transform youths at once into 
scientists or skilled artisans, but so to present the re- 
sults of racial experience and study that the pupils will 
organize their ideas according to some general pattern. 
If the subjects are presented in too scientific and ab- 
stract a way, there is danger that new ideas will be 
superficial and verbal and will be imperfectly connected 
with the individual's new experiences. This is a time 
when many new impulses and interests are developing 
and it is desirable that the new things presented shall 
appeal to these interests. 

There are two prominent opposing tendencies at this 
stage. One is to want to know about everything, which 
tends to superficial breadth of knowledge ; and the other, 
to devote one's self wholly to one line of interest, which 
tends to narrow specialism. The youth, therefore, should 
have the opportunity to learn something of a variety of 
subjects, but should be required to do more thorough 
work in some lines than he has ever done before. The 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 303 

subject receiving most attention should help in definite 
organization of knowledge, either in a logical, scientific 
way or with reference to some specific occupation. Even 
in this period there is danger of a teacher's carrying 
ideals of thoroughness too far ; yet much higher stand- 
ards should be applied now to the youth's work, in 
some lines at least. The youth should have enough 
experience of thorough work to know what it means ; 
but one of the chief purposes of education during this 
period, especially if he is going to pursue his general 
education further, is to give the youth a view of the 
various fields of knowledge and endeavor that are open 
to him, in order that he may consciously direct his own 
development in the lines that most appeal to him. 

This is the period in which ideals in the minds of the 
young people themselves should play a large part in 
their development. While an extreme degree of self- 
consciousness regarding one's present characteristics, in 
this more than other periods, should be avoided, yet 
ideals of what one may become should be made promi- 
nent by every subject that is studied. 

It is not necessary to strengthen the youth's ten- 
dency to self-examination in order to find what degree 
of perfection has been reached, but it is desirable to 
keep prominent in his mind that which will make him 
continually strive toward an ideal. The more possibili- 
ties of knowledge and achievement that are presented 
to him and that he may make his own, the better. 

It is a time for grouping facts under general princi- 
ples, and hence whatever is learned should either be 
presented in an organized form or else presented in 
such a way that it can and will be arranged by the stu- 
dents, either with or without help by the teacher, in 



304 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

much the same way as it has been organized by scien- 
tists or by the directors of industries and of govern- 
ments. No facts should be presented in an isolated way, 
but always in relation to general principles. If text- 
books are used, it is especially important that they 
should outline the subject properly, so that the general 
truths and their relations to particular facts, and to 
some extent to other general truths, shall be clearly 
brought out. Opportunity, however, should be given for 
the youth to organize ideas in his own way in a limited 
field. The previous study of good models in science, 
literature and the industries will be of considerable 
help. 

The best model of logical organization of general 
truths in relation to each other is geometry and the 
best example of abstract generalization is algebra, yet 
many pupils fail to appreciate the general truths in- 
volved, and these problems are often treated as are 
rebuses and other forms of puzzles in which answers 
may be obtained by certain manipulations. When 
algebra is not taught in such a way as to lead the pupil 
to see that it is merely arithmetic generalized, it has 
little value. It has been found by Dearborn^ that the 
standings of students in high schools and of the same 
students in the University of Wisconsin, in mathe- 
matics, show much less correlation than do the standings 
in history and language. This is probably because many 
high school students passed in mathematics in the high 
schools without understanding the general principles 
with which they were dealing. 

In sciences also the pupils often get little real know- 
ledge, because they are not given sufficient concrete mate- 

1 Bulletin Univ. of Wis. No. 368, 1910. 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 305 

rial and have not developed sufficient power of abstract 
thought to appreciate general laws of whose working 
they have had little concrete experience. It would seem, 
therefore, that methods in the high school should be 
such as will lead pupils to gain some ability in organi- 
zing their knowledge about general truths and in making 
inductions for themselves, rather than such as will simply 
give them a large amount of organized knowledge. 

This is preeminently a period in which imaginative 
thinking is to be transformed into abstract thinking. 
This is preparatory both for entering upon certain forms 
of vocational training in an intelligent way, and for the 
understanding of general truths in the sciences. 

College and University. The student in college or 
university should have his own ideals of what he wishes 
to do, and one of the chief functions of the teacher 
should be to make him acquainted with exact standards 
of knowledge and achievement. All conceptions and 
habits should, so far as possible, be brought well toward 
the higher standards of perfection, although even yet 
many ideals and habits should not be so definitely fixed 
as to prevent further modification and development. 

In later adolescence, the first part of which corre- 
sponds to the college period, one of the chief aims is to 
acquire large masses of organized knowledge. This may 
be accomplished by short-cut deductive methods more 
successfully than at any preceding period. If there has 
been good training previously in dealing with concrete 
material and organizing facts around general truths, the 
general truths already known will be of great use in 
acquiring knowledge of new subjects, and the ability to 
think abstractly, that has been acquired, will make it 
feasible for the youth to appreciate general truths briefly 



306 THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE MAKING 

illustrated, without going through the whole process of 
induction himself. Much attention may also be given to 
the relations of general truths to each other instead of 
the relations of particulars to generals, as in the high- 
school period, or to grouping particulars, as in the gram- 
mar-school period. 

One of the chief functions of the college teacher 
should be to help the student to acquire methods of 
studying that will enable him to learn and assimilate 
large masses of information thoroughly and with the 
least possible waste of time and energy. The college 
graduate should above all things be able to use books 
intelligently and effectively in acquiring information 
upon any subject he desires to study. With this power, 
and a more or less extended view of human knowledge, 
he is prepared for advanced professional study or re- 
search. 

In the university period, methods of teaching should 
lead to the ability to select, arrange and apply facts 
and truths from many sciences to particular problems 
and to the accomplishment of special ends. Facility 
must be acquired in reorganizing knowledge for use 
rather than for getting it in logical relations (unless the 
student is specializing in philosophy, in which case he 
is striving for more complete and logical relation of all 
that he knows). Clinical and research methods are 
therefore eminently suited to the training of university 
students. The best in matter and method that the race 
has learned should now dominate in the training of the 
individual. It is during this period that standards of 
truth as well as methods of study are established. The 
one engaged in scientific studies, either pure or applied, 
comes to depend upon the results of objective tests. 



AIMS AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 307 

while the student of philosophy and logic relies more 
upon the subjective test of congruence of ideas. The 
student of languages and history depends upon authori- 
tative, and students of art upon emotional, standards. 
In ethics the standards adopted are likely to accord 
with those of one's specialty. 

EXERCISES 

1. What differences are already recognized in methods of 
teaching mathematics at different ages ? What differences in 
governing a school ? 

2. Discuss the advantages and difficulties of constructing 
a course of study on the basis of things to be done instead of 
on the basis of facts and truths to be learned. 

3. To what extent do you apply the same standard in 
judging the work of your pupils ? How far is it proper to do 
so ? How far can you allow children to use their own judg- 
ment as to whether to do a task over or not ? 

4. Outline and discuss improvements that you think should 
be made in managing children and in teaching the various 
subjects, in the grade with which you are most familiar. 



BIBLIOGEAPHY 



BIBLIOGKAPHY 



CHAPTER I 

Baldwin, J. M., Mental Development — Methods and Processes. 

Barnes, Studies in Education, vol. i, pp. 309-20. 

Bolton, F. E., Principles of Education, chaps. 8, 9, 10. 

Griggs, E. H., Moral Education, chap. 3. 

Griggs, E. H., The Development of Personality in Children. 

Griggs, E. H., The New Humanism, chap. 2. 

Hancock, John A., Mental Depression in Young Women and 

Children ; Ped. Sem. vol. xiv, pp. 460-73. 
Henderson, C. R., Social Elements. 

James, W., Elements of Psychology, Chapter on the Self. 
Peabody, Elizabeth, The Sacredness of Personality, Educ. vol. i, 

pp. 260-64. 
Thorndike, E. L., Educational Psychology, chap. 6. 

CHAPTER II 

Allin, Arthur, Social Recapitulation, Ed. Rev. vol. xviii, pp. 344- 
52. 

Arnold, Felix, The Psychology of Interest, Psych. Rev. vol. xiii, 
pp. 221-38, 291-315. 

Bagley, W. C, Classroom Management, chaps. 9, 10, 11, 12. 

Bagley, W. C, The Educative Process, chap. 6. 

Barnes, Earl, A Study of Children's Interests, Studies in Educa- 
tion, vol. i. 

Bolton, F. E., Principles of Education, chaps. 4, 5, 6, 26. 

Bolton, F. E., Unsoundness of the Culture Epoch Theory of Edu- 
cation, Jr. Pedagogy, vol. xvi, pp. 136-51. 

Conradi, Edward, Children's Interests in Words, Slang, Stories 
etc. Ped. Sem. vol. x, pp. 359-404. 

Chase, H. W., Some Aspects of the Attention Problem, Ped. Sem. 
vol xvi, pp. 281-300. 

Dewey, John, Interest as Related to Will ; 2d Suppl. to the Year 
Book for 1885 of the Herbart Society. 



312 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

De Garmo, Chas., Interest and Education. 

Guillet, Cephas, A Study in Interests, Fed. Sem. vol. xiv, pp. 

322-28. 
Guillet, Cephas, Recapitulation and Education, Fed. Sem. vol. 

vii, pp. 397-445. 
Guillet, Cephas, Education in Interests, Fed. Sem. vol. xiv, pp. 

474-87. 
Hall and Smith, Curiosity and Interest, Fed. Sem. vol. x, pp. 

315-58. 
Hancock, John A., Work and Flay, Educ. vol. xxv, pp. 257-67. 
Herbartian Views of Interest, Second Year Book of the Herbart 

Society. 
Hoffman, L. W., Pedagogical Value of Mediate Interest, Jr. Ped- 
agogy, vol. xvi, pp. 49-55. 
Johnson, George E., An Educational Experiment, Fed. Sem. vol. 

vi, pp. 513-22. 
Johnson, G. E., Education by Flays and Games, chaps. 1, 2. 
King, Irving, Psychology of Child Development, chaps. 1, 2, 3, 

12, 13, 14. 
Kratz, Henry E., Studies and Observation in the School Room, 

chap. 1. 
Laing, Mary, An Inductive Study of Interest, Ed. Rev. vol. xvi, 

pp. 381-90. 
Lee, Joseph, Growth through Achievement, School Review, vol. 

xvii, pp. 352-62. 
McDougall, Robert, Interest and Development, Jr. Fed. vol. xv, 

pp. 46-67. 
McGhee, Zach, A Study in the Flay Life of Some South Carolina 

Children, Fed. Sem. vol. vii, pp. 459-78. 
M'Lennan, S. F., Emotion, Desire and Interest, Psych. Rev. vol. 

ii, pp. 462-74. 
Swift, Edgar J., Mind in the Making, chap. 3. 
Swift, Edgar J., The Culture Epoch Theory in Education, Jr. 

Fed. vol. xii, pp. 295-303. 
Taylor, Joseph S., Some Practical Aspects of Interest, Fed. Sem. 

vol. V, pp. 497-511. 
Thayer, Alice, A Study of Children's Interests in Flowers, Fed. 

Sem. vol. xii, pp. 107-40. 
Vandewalker, Nina, The Culture Epoch Theory from an Anthro- 
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Williams, Lillie A., Children's Interest in Words, Fed. Sem. vol. 

ix, pp. 274-95. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 313 

Wissler, Clark, The Interests of Children in the Reading Work 
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Wright, W. R., Some Effects of Incentives on Work and Fatigue, 
Psych. Rev. vol. xiii, pp. 23-34. 

CHAPTER III 

Bagley, W. C, Recent Studies in Periodicity in Mental Develop- 
ments, Psychol. Bull. 1909, pp. 188-93. 

Bagley, W. C, The Educative Process, chap. 12. 

Bryan, E. B., Nascent Stages and Their Pedagogical Significance, 
Ped. Sem. vol. vii, pp. 357-96. 

Burk, Frederic, From Fundamental to Accessory in the Develop- 
ment of the Nervous System and of Movements, Ped. Sem. 
vol. vi, pp. 5-64. 

Chamberlain, A. F., The Child, chap. 4. 

Dawson, Geo. E., Levels of Development in Relation to Educa- 
tion, Jr. Pedagogy, vol. xviii, pp. 9-24. 

Forbush, Wm. B,, The Social Pedagogy of Boyhood, Ped. Sem. 
vol. vii, pp. 307-46. 

Gulick, Luther, Psychological and Pedagogical and Religious As- 
pects of Group Games, Ped. Sem. vol. vi, pp. 135-51. 

O'Shea, M. V., Social Development and Education. 

Sanford, E. C, Mental Growth and Decay, Am. Jr. Psych, vol. 
xiii, pp. 426-49. 

Shepardson, Everett, A Preliminary Critique of the Doctrine of 
Fundamental and Accessory Movements, Ped. Sem. vol. xiv, 
pp. 101-16. 

Small, Maurice H., On Some Psychical Relations of Society and 
Solitude, Ped. Sem. vol. vii, pp. 13-69. 

Terman, Lewis M., A Study in Precocity and Prematuration, Am. 
Jr. Psych, vol. xvi, pp. 145-83. 

CHAPTER IV 

Baldwin, James M., Mental Development, vol. i, chap. 3, 6, 13. 
Bell, Sanford, An Introductory Study of the Psychology of Foods, 

Ped. Sem. vol. xi, pp. 51-90. 
Borgquist, Alvin, Crying, Am. Jr. Psych, vol. xvii, pp. 161-205. 
Compayre, G., Development of the Child in Later Infancy, chaps. 

1, 3, 8. 
Compayre, G., Intellectual and Moral Development of the Child, 



314 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Dearborn, G. V. N., Moto-sensory Development. 

Dexter, Edwin G., The Survival of the Fittest in Motor Training, 

Ed. Rev. vol. xxiii, pp. 81-91. 
Dresslar, Fletcher B., A Morning's Observation of a Baby, Fed. 

Sem. vol. viii, pp. 469-81. 
Fitz, Rachel K. and George W., Problems of Babyhood. 
Hall, G. S., Notes on the Study of Infants, Fed. Sem. vol. i, pp. 

127-38. 
Kirkpatrick, E. A., Fundamentals of Child Study, chap. 5. 
Moore, Kathleen C, The Mental Development of a Child, Psychol. 

Rev. Monograph No. 3, 1896. 
Preyer, Wm., The Mind of the Child. 
Schallenberg, Margaret, Prof. Baldwin's Method of Studying the 

Color Perception of Children, Am. Jr. Psych, vol. viii, pp. 

560-76. 
Shinn, Millicent, The Biography of a Baby. 
Tracy, F., Psychology of Childhood. 
Trettien, August W., Creeping and Walking, Am. Jr. Psych, vol. 

xii, pp. 1-67. 
Woolley, Helen W., Development of Right-Handedness in a Nor- 
mal Infant, Psych. Rev. vol. xvii, pp. 37-41. 
Woolley, Helen W., Some Experiments on the Color Perceptions 

of an Infant and their Interpretations, Psychol. Rev. vol xvi, 

pp. 363-76. 

CHAPTER V 

Baldwin, J. M., The Genesis of Social Interests, The Monist, vol. 
vii, pp. 340-57. 

Baldwin, J. M., Bashf ulness in Children, Ed. Rev. vol. 8, pp. 434- 
41. 

Baldwin, J. M., Social and Ethical Interpretations of Develop- 
ment, chaps. 1, 3, 4. 

Chamberlain, A. F. and I. C, Studies of a Child, Ped. Sem. vol. 
xi, pp. 264-91, 427-83, vol. xii, pp. 427-53. 

Chrisman, Oscar, One Year with a Little Girl, Ed. Rev. vol. ix, 
pp. 52-71. 

Compayre, G., Development of the Child in Later Infancy, chaps. 
2,5. 

Compayre, G., Intellectual and Moral Development of the Child, 
chap. 6. 

Conradi, Edward, Psychology and Pathology of Speech Develop- 
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 315 

Doran, Edwin W., A Study of Vocabularies, Fed. Sem. vol. xiv, 

pp. 401-38. 
Frear, Caroline, Imitation; A Study Based on E. H. Russell's 

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Gale, M. C. and H., Children's Vocabularies, Fop. Sci. Mo. 1902, 

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Gale, M. C. and H., The Vocabularies of Three Children in One 

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Gesell, Arnold L., Jealousy, Am. Jr. Fsych. vol, xvii, pp. 437-96. 
Guillet, Cephas, Retentiveness in Child and Adult, Am. Jr. 

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Hall and Smith, Showing Off and Bashfulness as Fhases of Self- 
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Maude, J. W., The Unconscious in Education, Educ, vol, ii, pp. 

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107-38. 
Trettien, A. W., The Psychology of the Language Interest of 

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Whipple, Mrs. G. M., The Vocabulary of a Three-Year-Old Boy 

with Some Interpretive Comments, Fed. Sem. vol. xvi,pp.l-22. 

CHAPTER VI 

Adams, Mabel E., A Deaf Child of Six, Ed. Rev. vol. x, pp. 273-76. 
Baldwin, J. M,, Social and Ethical Interpretations of Develop- 
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316 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Barnes, Earl, The Art of Little Children, Fed. Sem. vol. iii, pp. 

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Bolton and Haskell, Knowledge from the Standpoint of Association, 

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Brown, H. W., Some Records of the Thought and Reasonings of 

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Canton, Wm., The Invisible Playmate. 
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Herts, Alice M., Dramatic Instinct — Its Use and Misuse, Fed. 

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Hogan, Louise, A Study of a Child. 

Holbrook, Agnes S.,Fear in Childhood, Barnes' Studies in Educa- 
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Houston and Wachburg, The Naming of Colors, Am. Jr. Psych. 

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Iredell, Harriet, Eleanor Learns to Read, Education, Dec. 1898, 

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318 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

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Winston, Annie S., Memories of a Child. 



CHAPTER VII 

Adler, Felix, Moral Instruction of Children. 

Allen, Mrs., Home, School and Vacation. 

Allen, Ezra, The Pedagogy of the Myth in the Grades, Ped. Sem. 
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Ames, E. S., The Psychology of Religious Experience. 

Andrew, M. F., The Problem of Individualizing Instruction, 
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Ansley, C. F., Some Phases of Art in English Writing, N". W. 
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Bair, J. H., Development of Thinking Power in School Children, 
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Baldwin, Martha J., How Children Study, Archives of Psychol- 
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Bancroft, Jessie, Games for Playground, Schoolroom and Gym- 
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Barnes, Anna Kohler, Children's Ideas of Lady and Gentleman, 
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Barnes, Earl, Growth of Social Judgment, Studies in Educa- 
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Barnes, Earl, Children's Attitude Towards Future Occupations, 
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Barnes, Earl, The Prettiest Thing, Studies in Educ. vol. ii, pp. 
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Barnes, Earl, Children's Attitude Towards Theology, Studies in 
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Barnes, Earl, Development of Children's Political Ideas, Stud- 
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Gessell, Arnold L., Accuracy in Handwriting as Related to School 
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Griffing, Harold, On the Development of Visual Perception and 
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Toward Animal Pets, Ped. Sem. vol. xvi, pp. 205-39. 



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Kohler, Anna, Children's Sense of Money, Barnes' Studies in Educ. 

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Kratz, H. E., Characteristics of the Best Teachers as Recognized 

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Lamprey, Sadie, Development of Children in Quickness of Per- 
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Miles, Caroline, A Study of Individual Psychology, Am. Jr. of 

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Shaw, Edw. R., Motor Activities in Teaching, Pop. Sci. Mo. Nov. 

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326 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

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CHAPTER YIII 

Bolton, F. E., Principles of Education, chap. 22. 

Brittain, Horace L., A Study in Imagination, Ped. Sem. vol. xiv, 

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Burnham, Wm. H., The Study of Adolescence, Ped. Sem. vol. i, 

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Crampton, C. Wood, Anatomical or Physiological Age, Ped. Sem. 

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328 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

O'Shea, M. V,, When Character is Formed, Pop. Sci. Mo. vol. li, 

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CHAPTER IX 

Brockman, F. S., A Study of the Moral and Religious Life of 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 



CHAPTER X 



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330 BIBLIOCtPvAPHY 

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CHAPTEK XI 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 331 

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Farrand, Harriet A, Dr. Deweys Uriversiiy ZlenieiiTiry Sehocd, 
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Gibbs, David, The Fedagogj of Geography, Fed. Sem. toL irr, 
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Guiilet, Cephas, A Glimpse at a Natore School, Fed. Sem. roLia, 
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Hall, G. S., Adolescent and High School EngB^h, Latin and Al- 
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Hall; G. S., Some Criticisms of High School Flijsies and of X<»- 
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Hall, G. S., The Pedagogy of Histoij, Fed. Sem. tvL xii, pp. 
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Hall, G. S., Pedagogy — Its True Value in EdoeaticHi, Fed. S«n. 
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Hall, G. S., The Psychology of Musie and the Light It Throws 
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Hall, G. S., The Culture Yalne of Modem as C<Mitrasted witk 
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332 BIBLIOGKAPHY 

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Mann, C. R., Physics and Education, Science, July 1, 1910, pp. 

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Manny, Frank A., The Dividing Line between Secondary and 

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Parkinson, W. D., Individuality and Social Adjustment as Means 

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Payne, B. R., The Elementary School Curricula. 
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Smith, Frank W., The High School and the Adolescent, Jr. Ped- 
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Terman, Lewis M., Genius and Stupidity : A Study of the Intel- 
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Thompson, John G., Knowing and Doing, Education, vol. xxx, pp. 
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Wilson, W. E., The Doctrine of Interest, Ed. Rev. vol. xi, pp. 
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IXDEX 



INDEX 



Acceleration, in development, 57, 
61, 219. 

Adolescence, 60, 216-54, 305. 

Esthetic interests, 18, 225, 228, 
253,300. 

Aims, in education, 260-67 ; at dif- 
ferent ag-es, 279-307. 

Algebra, 301, 304. 

Amusements, 21, 23, 69. 

Anger, 68. 

Approval, 27, 286. 

Arithmetic, 33, 197, 287, 295, 304. 

Authority, 170, 217. 

Chumming, 177-80, 227. 

Chums, 178, 227, 233. 

College, 252, 305-07. 

Competition, 125, 167, 175-77, 237, 
275, 298. 

Conceptions, 253. 

Concepts, 147 ; and reasoning, 152- 
65 ; and thinking, 195-201, 302. 

Consciousness, imitation and social, 
75-76 ; common and social sensi- 
tiveness, development of, 76-80, 
80-88, 113, 115, 125, 130, 131. 

Contrariness, 113, 116. 

Cooperation, 168, 283. 

Coordination, 6Q, 67, 84, 225. 

Correlation, of interests, 36-41 ; of 
growth of parts, 225. 

Course of study, 279-84. 

Culture epochs, 46-50. 

Day-dreams, 233-40. 

Dearborn, 304. 

Deception, 138-39. 

Development, general principles of, 
3-10 ; and interest, 41-50 ; stages 
of, 55-63 ; of self and social 
ideas, 80-88; of language and 
ideas, 92-100; social, 125, 131; 
sensory and motor, of fifth pe- 
riod, 224-26 ; of thought in fifth 
period, 240-42 ; moral and voli- 



tional, 247, 252 ; relation to edu- 
cation, 257-307. 

DoUs, 213. 

Drawing, 287, 298. 

Dreams, 141, 151. 

Education, relation of stages of de- 
velopment to, 247-307 ; positive 
and negative aims, 260-67. 

Emotions, 251. 

Environment, 39, 65, 167, 197. 

Evolution, in infant, 3. 

Fairy stories, 148. 

Fatigue, 205. 

Fear, 87, 131, 182. 

Feelings, 11, 16, 86, 87, 201-05, 

226-29, 233, 252. 
Freedom, 19, 116, 248. 
Freud, 9. 
Froebel, 118, 124. 

Games, 21, 45, 168, 212. 
Geography, 33, 297, 301. 
Geometry, 304. 
George Junior Republic, 264. 
Grades, grammar, 266; primary, 

284-93; intermediate, 293-300; 

higher, 300-02. 
Grammar, 197, 295. 
Growth, 65, 166, 219. 
GuiUet, 193. 

Habits, 8, 70, 88, 104, 105, 169, 205, 

219, 226, 244, 246, 292, 305. 
HaU, 220. 

Hallucinations, 132. 
Health, 68, 69, 87. 
High school, 302. 
History, 33, 296, 301. 
Humor, 182. 

Ideals, 8, 120-23, 206, 218, 228, 

236, 249, 252, 276, 303, 305. 
Images, 91, 94-104, 146-52. 



338 



INDEX 



Imaginary companions, 132-38. 

Imagination, 107-09, 146-58, 189- 
95, 235-42, 293, 301. 

Imitating and socializing stage, 72- 
109. 

Imitation, 43, 68, 106-09, 112, 175, 
271. 

Individual characteristics, 272-77. 

Individuality, 35, 111, 112, 114, 
115, 123, 166, 168, 174, 217, 234, 
265. 

Individualization, period of, 111- 
69. 

Infant, 4. 

Instincts and interests. 15-18; in 
infant, 61, 62, 63 ; in adolescents, 
219. 

Interest, nature and functions, 11- 
15 ; relation to instincts, 15-18 ; 
work and play, 18-24 ; varieties 
of work, 24-26; associated and 
transferred, 26-31 ; artificial and 
natural, 31-36 ; utilization and 
correlation of, 36-41 ; develop- 
ment of, 41-50,72, 148, 175, 220, 
240, 280, 283, 285, 290, 300, 302. 

Intermediate grades, 293-300. 

James, 235. 
Japanese, 170. 

Kindergarten, 124, 125. 
Knowledge and skill, 258-60, 279. 

Lancaster, 221, 229. 

Language and ideas of self, 83 ; and 
acquisition of ideas, 88-92 ; and 
names of characteristics, 118, 
119; and learning, 173, 174, 287. 

Latin, 29, 30. 

Leadership, 177-83. 

Learning, undirected, 267-69 ; 
modes of, 269-72. 

Lies, 129, 130, 131. 

Locomotion, 6. 

Love, 86, 231. 

Marks 27 41. 

Mathematics, 25, 26, 30, 31, 197. 

Memory, in second period, 104-05 ; 
in third period, 139-46 ; in fourth 
period, 192-95 ; in fifth period, 
242-44. 



Moral and volitional development 

in fifth period, 244-50. 
Motor development in fifth period, 

224-26. 
Munro, 74. 

Obedience, 88 ; and conformity to 
law, 205-13. 

Perception, and images, 94-104, 
134, 146, 183-89. 

Personality, nature and develop- 
ment, 3-10, 35, 119, 141, 167, 
205, 253. 

Pets, 213. 

Physiological basis of interest, 12 ; 
regulation in infancy, 68 ; change 
in fourth period, 166 ; changes in 
fifth period, 216, 219. 

Play, 18-24, 30, 32, 39, 41, 43, 44, 
45, 124, 128, 131, 133, 134, 146, 
167, 175, 271. 

Pre-Social Period, 64-71. 

Primary education in grades, 284- 
93. 

Prince, 9. 

Pubertal period, 216-50. 

Puberty, 33, 61. 

Punishment, 114, 116. 

Reading, 33, 287, 290. 

Reasoning and concepts, 152-64, 

201, 242. 
Regulation, period of competitive 

socialization and, 166-215. 
Religion, 156, 228, 252. 
Retardation, 55, 57, 279. 

Science, 33, 240, 242, 304, 305. 

Self-consciousness, 85, 231-35. 

Self, development of, and social 
ideas, 86-88 ; assertion of, in third 
period, 112-18; and opinions of 
others, 118-20 ; social and indi- 
vidual, 142. 

Self-direction, 123-127. 

Self-government, 6-7. 

Sensations, 8, 66, 95, 224. 

Sensitiveness, social, 76-80. 

Sensory and motor development of 
fifth period. 224-26. 

Sex, 217, 227,' 233, 234. 

Showing o£E, 77. 



INDEX 



339 



Shyness, 77. 

Sidis, 9. 

Skill and knowledge, 258-60, 279. 

SmaU, 200. 

Smith, 170, 229. 

Social, sensitiveness and common 
consciousness, 76-80; ideas de- 
veloped, 80-88 ; development, 
125; direction, 167; influences, 
171-77 ; consciousness in fifth 
period, 227. 

Socialization, period of competitive, 
166-215. 

Socializing- stage, 72-109. 

Specialization, 260. 

Stages of development, need of 
distinguishing, 55-56 ; difficulties 
of distinguishing, 56-58 ; basis of 
classification, 58-59 ; character- 
ized, 59-60 ; cautions regarding, 
60-63 ; pre-social, 64-71 ; imitat- 
ing and socializing, 72-109 ; indi- 
vidualizing, 111-65 ; competitive, 
166-215 ; pubertal or adolescent, 
216-50; in later adolescence, 251- 
54 ; relation to education, 257. 

Story interest, 148-52. 

Street, 174. 



Swift, 246. 
Sympathy, 178, 220. 

Teasing, 180-83. 

Thinking, 195-201. 

Thought, development of, in fifth 

period, 240-44 ; in sixth period, 

251. 
Terman, 178. 
Time, 143, 145. 
Timidity, 87. 
Triplett, 187. 
Truth, learning to distinguish, 127- 



Unity, of personality, 7-9 ; and in- 
terest, 15 ; with a higher being, 

88. 
University, 305-07. 

Volitional development in fifth 
period, 244-50. 

Will, 201-05. 

Work and play interests, 18-22; 
varieties of work interests, 24-28, 
30, 36, 38, 41, 42, 167, 271, 300. 

Writing, 33, 42, 225, 287, 294. 



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